Miss Cellophane
by FemmeDraconis
Summary: Ginny struggles against the rift coming between her and Ron. When she is pulled into a mystery surrounding the Ministry and the Darkest of wizarding families, will Ginny find her place in the sun? Where does Draco Malfoy fit into the equation? DG
1. One

Authors Notes: Hello, all. This is the second chaptered fic I've decided to undertake, and I hope you all like it. It'll be Ginny-centric, but will contain a lot of " the Trio" and, one of my favorites, Draco Malfoy. Without further ado, here it is.

Oh, right. I know very well that this chapter is ridiculously short, but don't let that deter you from continuing. I just needed to get a first grip before delving into it more in the following chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Oh yeah, the title of the story was derived from the song, 'Mr. Cellophane' from Chicago. Don't wanna get sued.

_Miss Cellophane_

* * *

King's Cross Station was teeming with people running to and fro, but that was nothing out of the ordinary.

Mothers called after their mischievous children who refused to stay in one place, while important looking men glanced at their watches and clutched their suitcases. Parents bid their darling children 'goodbye' as they left the nest.

One such family was doing that very thing between Platforms 9 and 10.

"Geez, Mum. The way you're carrying on, you'd think I was going off to Romania to chase dragons with Charlie," said Ron Weasley, patting his mother's back.

"The way you find trouble, you might as well be; so I'd better say my goodbyes now," she said tearfully.

"It's not like you haven't got Ginny left," he complained.

Pulling out a handkerchief from her purse and dabbing at her eyes, she negated his statement. "But my last little boy's all grown up."

Ron rolled his eyes and flushed as his girlfriend, Hermione Granger, tried to hide a smile behind her hand. His best friend, the famous Harry Potter, also smiled. As the latter's aunt and uncle didn't exactly worship him, he didn't mind these episodes much. It was nice knowing that he would have someone who would miss him when he was gone.

"Just look at you three," she continued, ignoring Ron's agitated groan. "Off to finish your last year of school. I can still remember when we came here seven years ago. Ron, with dirt on his nose –" Coincidentally she reached up to his nose and wiped a smudge of dirt off the bridge of said feature. Ron resisted the urge to back away. "– and Harry, all alone, not knowing how to get on the train." Harry blushed.

Clasping her hands together, she then hugged them one last time and let them go.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said.

"Oh, dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "We'll have none of that! Call me Molly; you're almost family, anyway," she said giving Ron a sly glance.

"Mother!" the tall redhead despaired. Hermione blushed, trying to hide behind her bushy fringe. She gave the matronly woman one last bright smile and disappeared behind the barrier.

"Don't go getting involved in some mess," Mrs. Weasley warned the remaining young men. After bidding them goodbye as well, she turned her attention to her youngest child.

"Alright now, Ginny dear, it's your turn. Have a nice term and don't forget to owl for anything you need!"

Ginny thrust away the disappointed feelings that developed. She was sure that next year, when it was _her_ last year, _she'd _be receiving the same tear-filled goodbye.

"Bye, mum," the sixteen-year-old said. Going through the barrier, she stowed her luggage away and searched for her brother. As usual, her family had reached the Platform almost too late to get on the train. Ginny gripped a tall handbar as the Hogwarts Express lurched forward jerkily. When it began to chug along steadily, she began opening and shutting various compartments that didn't have the people she wanted to see.

Entering one of the last ones, she saw the Trio huddled together over the most recent issue of the Daily Prophet. She heard Hermione's sharp intake of breath. Very rarely did anything surprise the Head Girl.

Something was up.

"I know," Ron said. "Dad reckons that –" Harry cleared his throat and nodded his head in Ginny's direction. Ron and Hermione hadn't realized that she was there.

"Er, hi, Ginny..." Harry said awkwardly.

"Hey," she replied standing in the doorway, interest piqued. They didn't have to stop on her account; it was possible that she could help with whatever they were mulling over.

"Was there something you needed?" Hermione asked, breaking through the silence.

During the summer, Ginny had formulated a plan for the year. In short it was: 'Get them to include me, or die trying!' It seemed, though, at that moment, that she was doing much more of the latter. Not sure what to say at the moment, though, as they obviously wanted nothing from her, Ginny remained quiet.

"What do you want?" Ron translated. He got up, not waiting for her to answer. "Whatever it is, it can wait, Ginny. We're busy. Go find your friends," he ordered, and shut the door in her face.

The redhead gaped mutely at the window of the compartment as her brother next pulled the shade down. 'How dare he?!' she thought indignantly. She half wanted to blast the door open and storm back in, but at that moment Colin Creevey came running up to her.

"Hey, Ginny!" he greeted enthusiastically. "I haven't seen you all summer!"

"Obviously," she teased, forgetting momentarily about her brother's rudeness. Colin grabbed her arm and led her away to another compartment with Neville in it.

"We've got so much catching up to do!" he said, sitting her down. For the rest of the train ride Neville and Colin tried their best to bring Ginny out of her mood by going over anything and everything there was to bring up. Colin was excited to begin taking pictures of Harry, although Ginny warned him not to get overly enthusiastic; Neville was apprehensive about Potions and half wanted to send an owl to his grandmother. He fretted over whether he'd left something behind, and "Gram had warned him to make a good start to the year."

Ginny was just glad to be with them. For once, she was part of the group.

* * *

- Femme


	2. Two

Author's Notes: Thanks to **Iselin** for reviewing!

_Disclaimer_: Nope, still not mine; only the plot.

_Miss_ _Cellophane_

* * *

Ginny woke up early the next morning. She still had time enough to sleep for another half hour, but today was the first day of classes and she was eager to begin.

Rubbing her eyes and stretching, she got heavily to her feet and tried not to make much noise on her way to the bathroom. She turned the knob, but it only jangled loudly in the socket – it was locked. Ginny half turned and let her eyes sweep across the dorm – everyone was still in bed. Her eyes flicked apprehensively back to the locked room and she reached forward to try again, when it swung in.

"Oh, sorry!" breathed a very pink Hermione. She looked as if she'd been scrubbing her skin clean for at least twenty minutes. Sweeping past the younger girl, Hermione made her way to the corner, where Ginny saw that she had overlooked the dark rucksack and flats.

"Hermione," she said with wonder, brown eyes widening despite their sleepiness. "Why are you in the sixth-year dorms?"

The older girl looked down to fasten the straps of her shoes. "I tried to take a shower in my _own_ dorm, but apparently the rest of the girls couldn't take the sound of the tap going on yet." She huffed lightly. "It's not as if the shower's a waterfall…Anyway, I had to come here instead."

Ginny nodded blankly. "All right…but you know what time it is, don't you?"

"Well, of course," she answered, rolling her eyes. "I just wanted to get an early start on the day." She stood and began straitening herself out. "You know, I can't take my job as Head Girl lightly." Tightening her tie and making sure that her badge stood out on her robes, she continued, "Why I'm sure that Harry is doing the same thing."

Ginny gave a small laugh. "If you think that he's getting out of bed at –" she checked her watch, "– 6:50, you haven't learned anything from staying at the Burrow with us."

"Well then I'll just have to remind him of what could come from shirking his duties." With that, she descended into the Common Room.

Ginny shook her head and went into the unlocked bathroom. "Some people never change."

* * *

Hours later Ginny stood in a large crowd waiting to get inside the Great Hall for lunch. The day had been hectic by even Hogwarts' standards, and there was assorted grumbling as everyone grumbled, aggravated.

Although none of the teachers were new except for the Defense professor, they still gave an introduction to the courses. All of them sounded interesting, if not difficult, and Ginny couldn't wait to get started.

Looking around, she saw that next to her there was a tall blond boy reading the Daily Prophet. Anxious to know what it was that had her brother and his friends so enraptured in the morning in their compartment, she inched closer to the person, hoping to get a glimpse at what articles there were. Not realizing that she appeared to be staring, she continued to look in the person's direction.

Suddenly he lifted his head from reading an article, and said, "Well, Weasley, if you take a picture like your creepy little friend likes to do, or have him do it for you, it might last longer."

Ginny looked up from the paper in the boy's hands to realize that it was Draco Malfoy and reddened slightly.

"Thanks for the advice, Malfoy," she said standing straighter. "But I don't think I'll need Colin. You're so full of yourself I bet you've got plenty of pictures lying all over the place."

It was rude of him to try and embarrass her. He had been laying off of Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the past year (they thought he was plotting something evil; she reasoned that he got bored after awhile), and she didn't want him to get the idea that she had been caught off guard by his snobbery.

"And for your information, I was looking at your paper, not you."

He smirked and raised his eyebrow, "Sure, Weasel," he said, only mildly impressed at her backbone. "But if you wanted to see it, you could have asked."

Ginny gave a humorless laugh. Malfoy thought that she would actually take something from him? Did he think her stupid?

After her second year when his father had given her the Dark Lord's journal, did he actually expect that she would take even a tissue from him?

"While I doubt that you trust any Malfoy's 'gifts', I assure you that this Daily Prophet is Dark Art - free." He thrust it into her hands, and began to walk inside the Great Hall, the crowd thinning. "I understand you don't have the money to buy even a paper" – she glared at him – "but don't expect any more handouts. You're not _my_ charity case, that's Potter's area."

Glaring at his back, Ginny thought fleetingly that the gesture was almost nice; she hadn't asked for the paper. On remembering his last comment, though, she figured he only gave it to her so he could have an opportunity to talk about her family's poverty.

Sitting down at the table, she put the newspaper next to her. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her reading it in public.

After a quick meal, Ginny left the Great Hall a little earlier than usual so that she could read in the Common Room. Colin, who said he had nothing better to do, went with her.

"I'm not going to be much company," she told him. "_Leo Fortis_." The Fat Lady nodded and opened.

"That's okay," he said stepping inside. "I just got the latest issue of _Witch Weekly_ which should keep me occupied."

"Colin, you read that trash?!" Ginny said disapprovingly. "You know how Rita Skeeter is! Though she's calmed down a bit, she's still a wretched gossip monger."

Colin chuckled a little and plopped down into a chair. "I don't always read the articles."

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him.

"Really, I don't! I mostly use it to look at the pictures."

"Whatever floats your boat," she said, settling into the sofa next to him. Looking at the cover page she saw a snapshot of a distraught wizard trying to fend off photographers. He looked up and saw Ginny and then collapsed on the street crying. Someone, whom she assumed was his wife, was also weeping and trying to get him off the sidewalk.

When the woman touched his robes Ginny saw that something stained them. On closer inspection she saw that it was red, and sticky.

"What the…" Ginny murmured.

He was covered in blood.

She read the headline quickly: **WIZARD TORTURES AND KILLS FAMILY OF MUGGLES**. Flipping to the first page of the article, Ginny read:

_Respectable wizard Alfred Tinelle was found at a Muggle home in __East London__, when Muggles complained about screams and bright lights coming out of the home. When officials from the Ministry arrived on the scene, they found the Muggle family (three children, the mother, and father) dead on the floor. The Killing Curse had been performed on them after several rounds of the Cruatius Curse._

_When Mr. Tinelle was apprehended he was in shock, but lucid enough to allege that he had been under the influence of the Imperious Curse. Several minutes later his wife arrived on the scene to take him home. The Ministry however believes that this case might be the work of You-Know-Who and refuses to release him into her care. A compromise was reached stating that Mr. Tinelle would go to St. Mungo's for care._

_In the mean time, Aurors prepared to question Mr. Lucius Malfoy, who worked closely with Tinelle in his division (The Division of Dangerous Artifacts). The most perplexing matter of this case is that Mr. Tinelle had no problems with Muggles; in fact, he often helped the Division for the Protection of Muggles._

_The Ministry refuses to release more information on the episode until they are sure of the culprit; however the _Prophet_ will continue to follow this case and keep all readers posted._

Ginny stopped reading the paper and sat back in her chair. She had met Mr. Tinelle years ago after her father brought him home. He had seemed nice enough: he had warm blue eyes and brown hair, and generally put off a very kind persona. She had not recognized him on the cover of the paper at first because he looked so…haggard. But Dark Magic could do that to you – she knew that better than almost anybody.

All the same, Ginny wondered why Harry, Hermione, and Ron were so interested in the article; there was always some crazed lunatic terrorizing Muggles, and even killing them. The fact that Mr. Tinelle was involved only made it remotely different from the rest.

'Are they trying to catch the wizard who put Mr. Tinelle under the Imperious, or find evidence to catch Tinelle himself?'

"But that's crazy!" she said aloud without realizing it. Colin looked at her speculatively.

"And so are you Gin," he said grinning. "Twice in one day!"

She looked at him confusedly. "What do you mean?"

"Oh don't think that I didn't see you laughing with Dark Lord Jr."

"Oh shut up," she said irritably, she had been trying to think. "The first time was that prat Malfoy's fault."

"It was his fault that you laughed with him?"

"Yes! – I mean no!" she contested loudly.

Putting his hands out in front of him, Colin backed up into the couch. "Only checking."

Students began rushing out of the dorm and out through the portrait. "Anyway, it's time to go." He handed her his arm. "Shall we?"

Instead of putting her arm through his she strung the strap of her bag on his wrist for him to carry and glared at him. If he wanted to tease her, he would at least have to carry her books.

"Yes, we shall."

* * *

Ginny exhaled loudly and dropped into a space on the bench in the Great Hall for dinner. Colin popped into the space across from her, while Neville sat on her left and proceeded to pile his plate high with food. Serving herself, Ginny surveyed the Gryffindor area, feeling that something was out of place. It seemed too quiet.

Mouth full of potatoes, Colin asked, "Ginny, where's your brother?"

Realizing that this was the reason for the unusual quiet, Ginny answered after a pause, "I don't know. Most people usually go upstairs to the Common Room to drop off books. Maybe that's what they did."

Colin nodded. "I suppose so."

For the next fifteen minutes the three made small talk; at least that's what Ginny was doing.

She made sure that the topic of the conversation stayed mainly on Colin and his photographic endeavors for the year. He could go on for hours talking about his hobby without her saying anything – and this time, that's what she wanted. While he continued chattering, she continued to speculate on where the Trio was.

It wasn't just her brother that was missing; Harry and Hermione where nowhere to be found either. This meant that Ron and Hermione went off somewhere alone, leaving Harry to wait until they were finished; _or_ they were on some secret adventure.

She assumed it was the latter. The former gave her mind disturbing images.

Ginny scanned the Great Hall while nodding absently at something Colin said. Her eyes stopped short at the Slytherin table – Malfoy wasn't at dinner.

Cutting off Colin abruptly, Ginny said, "Neville, where did you last see Ron, Harry, and Hermione?"

Colin started a little at Ginny's unexpected interruption. He looked across the table at Neville as if to ask what was wrong with her. Neville shrugged his shoulders warily.

"Sorry," she apologized. She hated it when people cut her off, too, but this was important.

"I think it was at the end of the class we had just before dinner."

"Go on," she urged.

"When class was over they seemed to be in a hurry to go somewhere…I thought they were in a hurry to go to dinner, and asked if they wouldn't mind waiting for me to drop off my bag and come back. They said they wouldn't, so I ran up the staircase that heads for the East Tower – everyone knows that that one takes the least time – and came back down." He sighed. "But when I came back, they weren't there. I guess they had other things to do…"

While most of Ginny was still curious about their whereabouts, another part of her was angry with them for treating Neville so rudely. Especially Ron. She thought that he would know better than to stand someone up.

'No wonder he seemed so downcast,' she thought. Harry and Ron were his heroes, and they treated him with the same care as a Slytherin would.

This thought brought her back to her previous thoughts. She understood that the Trio went somewhere, but was it just a coincidence that Malfoy was also missing? A new idea made her ask Neville another question.

"Nev," she began; he smiled a bit at her endearment for him, "What class did you just have?"

Picking up his fork once again he stated simply, "Potions."

Ginny waited a beat, and then shot up from her seat, knocking over her goblet of pumpkin juice. Colin coughed and tried to mop off the juice that spilled over onto his lap.

"Ginny, what's wrong with you today? You've been –"

"Sorry!" she yelled over her shoulder while running toward the large doors of the Hall. "Got to go! Thanks for the info, Nev!"

'It all makes sense!' she thought, running for the staircases that lead to the East Tower. Gryffindor seventh-years had potions with Slytherin. The East Tower staircase was not only a good way to get to the Gryffindor tower, but rumored to be the stairs that led to the Slytherin common room.

Reaching the winding staircase, Ginny put a pale hand on the oak banister, slightly out of breath, mind whirring.

From years of careful eavesdropping, she knew that the only other time the Trio had gone to the Slytherin common room, was when they were hoping to obtain information from Malfoy about the heir of Slytherin. They had suspected him of being the one who attacked all of the Muggle-borns.

'Who would have thought it was me.' Ginny thought sadly. Shaking her head to clear the unpleasant thoughts she continued to put pieces of the puzzle together.

The_ Daily Prophet_ said they would be questioning Lucius Malfoy about Mr. Tinelle; the Wonder Kids probably suspected that the younger Malfoy knew something. Considering this, she reasoned that they were probably right.

'After all, like Death Eater, like son.' She hated sounding so narrow-minded, but it was the most obvious answer. Malfoy was always up to something, and so was his demented father; everything clicked.

Ginny was suddenly filled with a great sense of pride; she'd figured everything out just as carefully as the Trio would. If she kept this up, then maybe she would have her own place in their group. However, in order to get anywhere, she had to know just as much as they did about the case, which would mean tracing their steps.

Straightening up, Ginny began to ascend the stairs. They creaked and groaned with each twist and turn. After the first landing, Ginny stood and surveyed her options. There were three ways she could go, but in order to get to the Slytherin common room, she had to get on the right set of steps. A torch illuminated the path that she would take if she wanted to get to her own common room, so that choice was marked off. The flight of steps in the center led to the Arithmancy classroom, and as far as she knew, there weren't any dorms there. So her only option was the stairs on the left.

Halfway up, Ginny began to hear small sounds, and creaks in every direction. Getting a chill as she climbed higher, she pulled her robes closer against her skin. Hearing a sharp shriek as she stood on the fourth step from the top, she gasped and whipped around, pulling her wand out. Ginny could make out the faint silvery glow of a ghost at the very bottom of the steps, and felt foolish for letting such a common occurrence frighten her. However, as she reached the top, she decided to keep her wand out – just in case.

Slowly walking down the first passageway, she decided to keep to the shadows. It wouldn't be good if she were caught lurking around another houses dorms at night.

Deciding that she wanted to find her brother and his friends as soon as possible, Ginny began to walk a little faster. If only it weren't so dark… The sun was setting in the west, so the only light she had was the small glow of torches that were stationed infrequently throughout the hall. Soon the shadows seemed to be closing in on her, and Ginny wondered how long she'd been roaming around. She didn't even know where she was going…

All of a sudden, she walked into a cold, stone wall. Hissing an oath, she turned and backed up. The hairs on her neck rose as she felt someone watching her.

"Who's there?" she whispered sharply. A high pitched chuckle answered her. Backing up further, her back hit what she thought was another wall. The laughing got louder. Panic registered in her brain as she realized that it was coming from behind her. But how could it, there was a wall…?

Turning around slowly, Ginny whispered, "Lumos," and looked at what she had backed up against. Small beady eyes glared right back at her.

"What have we here?" the face said. It wasn't a wall; it was the painting leading to the Slytherin Common Room. Salazar Slytherin rose from his seat in the portrait and walked forward.

Ginny gasped and turned, looking for a place to hide. She ran to the nearest corner and crouched in the shadows. Slytherin chuckled. The door swung open unexpectedly, and three sets of feet shuffled out. Ginny pressed herself closer into the corner, hoping to remain hidden.

But Slytherin would not let an intruder leave unscathed. "There is a lovely young woman in the shadows," he whispered silkily. The people jerked around to look at her corner. They began to come near her.

"No!" Ginny cried out. She jumped up and put the light out of her wand immediately. She heard three intakes of breath and knew that they had seen her face. Their pace quickened, and they came closer. Ginny ran to the nearest path she could find, it lead to another corridor. Running quickly, she turned a corner, and heard one of the people whisper, "Hurry up!"

She began to panic even more when she realized that it had to be Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy, who were following her. Turning her head to see how far ahead she was, she saw their figures coming closer.

Luckily, her hands were in front of her, because she hit a dead end. With a frustrated and horrified cry she frantically searched for another way to get back to the staircases. A torch around the corner cast a dim glow on a banister around the corner, and Ginny ran toward it with a fresh burst of speed. Hearing her attackers' footsteps pounding on the carpeted floor, Ginny began to breathe raggedly; her heart felt like it would come up and out of her throat.

Her robes billowed behind her as she sprinted for the stairs, but she forgot about magic. One of the voices firmly shouted "_Ambula_!" in her direction; Ginny's legs began to pump slower against her will. Tears coursed down her face as she stopped running at breakneck speed. There was a spell on her; she wouldn't be able to escape, and they would capture her.

Although she couldn't run, she began to walk quickly. It was an odd feeling – she wanted so much to sprint down the corridor, but she felt as if she was walking through mud. Some invisible force was keeping her from doing anything more than a brisk walk.

Ginny exhaled loudly when she saw the staircase coming closer; the banister was in reach…

A strong hand jerked her back violently just as she was about to grab the stair hold and her breath caught in her throat. A scream tore from her, but a hand clamped over her mouth, as the arm that grabbed her pulled her closer. Her back was pressed firmly against a boy's tall, slim, body; her arms confined tightly to her sides as the assailant wrapped his arm around her. Breathing heavily into the person's hand, Ginny's wide, brown eyes looked frantically for someone to help her. She tried to call for help, but the hand was firm around her mouth.

She was trapped in the Slytherin Wing, and no one would hear her screams.

* * *

Muahaha. Please review!

-Femme


	3. Three

_Author's Notes_: This chapter was long overdue, but by way of apology, I've been working more on Analyze This. I'll try and work the two together without leaving one for the other next time. I've also decided on most likely continuing the story before Book 5 ever happened because that was the way I planned it. If ever I decide to change that, I'll say otherwise. Thanks for your patience!

_Disclaimer_: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters. They're J.K. Rowling's.

_Miss_ _Cellophane_

* * *

Ginny was thinking what a failure she was in between raspy breaths; the Trio would never have been captured by the very people they intended to spy on.

'I was so stupid! Instead of acting like an idiot when I saw the portrait, I could have coaxed him into letting me inside the Common Room,' she thought, not realizing how far-fetched that scheme would be. Salazar Slytherin would never let a Gryffindor into his territory.

As thoughts ricocheted inside of her head, Ginny didn't notice her captor bending down to tell her something, until his mouth was at her ear.

In a thin whisper he said, "I'm going to let you go, and I don't want you to scream. Do you understand?"

With only a second's hesitation, Ginny nodded emphatically. When he let her go, she would whip around, take out her wand, and curse him. She didn't bother to think about Crabbe or Goyle; they didn't present much of a danger magically, and she could quickly outrun them.

Achingly slow, the boy took his hand from her mouth.

Gathering a deep breath, Ginny flipped around with a war-like cry, wand out, and prepared to shout, "_Immobiliarbus!"_ However, she didn't get to even pronounce the first syllable when she saw the three faces. The hex died on her lips as a new feeling possessed her.

Looking at her 'captor' with eyes as big as bludgers, Ginny managed to croak, "Harry!"

She didn't know which feelings were worse: her previous one of indescribable fright, or the one she was feeling now: indescribable stupidity.

"Proceed to tell us, Ginevra Weasley, why Harry, Hermione, and I found you stooping outside the Slytherin House portrait."

Ron paced back and forth in front of Ginny, his eyes never leaving her rigid figure. His glare was reminiscent of her mother's and Ginny found herself unwillingly cowering from his gaze.

"W-well, you see…" Ginny's voice drifted off. What was she going to tell them?

She looked around at Hermione, hoping to find that the Head Girl would lend a hand. Hermione only looked away in bewilderment, clearly telling Ginny without words that there was no help to be found there. Daring a look at Harry, Ginny was surprised to see that he was staring at her intently, also awaiting her answer; and he looked none too pleased.

"Ginny, what were you doing?" Ron had stopped pacing and was now looking head on at his sister who was currently looking down at her lap.

Ginny took a breath. "I don't know…" she voiced quietly. It was a stupid answer, she knew, but Ginny doubted that it was the time to tell them she wished to help with their crusade in solving Mr. Tinelle's frame up; she had just proven herself a failure in the art of espionage.

"What d'you mean, 'I don't know'?" Ron mimicked. He sat down in front of her and clapped his hands together. "You mean to say that you were just _wandering_ around late at night, because you miraculously forgot your way to Gryffindor Tower, and then ended up at the entrance to the Slytherin dormitories?"

Ginny sat up straighter. "No, Ron, I don't mean to say that."

"Well then how in bloody hell did you manage to get there?!"

"How did _you_ manage?!" Ginny yelled back. Ron turned an unpleasant shade of purple and Harry sat up startled.

"That doesn't matter! _We_ can take care of ourselves –"

"And I can't?" Ginny interrupted.

"Ginny," Harry said patronizingly, "we felled you down like a tree in the middle of corridor."

"After I gave you quite a chase," Ginny retorted.

"Oh," Ron sang sarcastically, putting his hand over his heart. "Yes and you were such an opponent – wandless, arms trapped to your sides and all." He dropped the act. "Can you imagine what would have happened had it actually been someone else? Someone who could do you harm...someone –"

"Someone like Malfoy?" Ginny knew she had him.

Ron ceased his ranting and gave Ginny a scathing look. "Have you been _spying_ on us?"

"Is there anything I should be spying on?" Ginny replied silkily.

"Ginny! _What_ –"

"Ron…" Hermione said warningly, looking nervously toward the steps leading to the dorms. "Calm down; you don't want to wake everyone up."

"I don't care!"

Hermione gave him a harsh look.

"Maybe you should, Ron." That came from Harry. "We don't know who could be listening, and unless you want anyone to know that we were all –" Harry ended his sentence abruptly just as Hermione glared at him.

Ginny caught on.

"Don't want anyone to know that you were all what?" she said slyly.

"Nothing," he said too quickly.

"I know something's going on –" Ginny pushed.

"It's none of your business!" Ron yelled getting to his feet.

"Don't yell at me!" Ginny replied, to angry to realize that she was shouting just as loudly.

"I have a right to be angry with you, Ginny! It seems that without proper looking after, you don't think, and end up in situations which could have been avoided with the use of good sense." Using another tactic he said, "I highly doubt that Mum would even be as fair as to let you explain yourself as I am now" – Ginny snorted – "but what do _you_ think Ginny? What would Mum say?" Ron expected Ginny to shrink back, but was surprised when she shot back quickly,

"I suppose she would wonder why _you_" – Ginny thrust her finger at Ron – "were skulking around the Slytherin dormitories as well! I think that she'd find it interesting to know that I saw you coming out of their common room!"

Ginny couldn't remember Ron looking as menacingly at her as he was just then. Sensing his ire, Hermione stood and placed her hand on his shoulder. He took a calming breath.

"That is completely…completely –" he stuttered in his effort to find words, shoving his hand through his hair as if making to pull it out.

"It's completely irrelevant, is what he means to say," Hermione said, finishing for him.

Ginny couldn't resist giving the older girl a glare. "He was the one that mentioned blabbing off to Mum in the first place."

"The point is, Ginny, that you've just as much as admitted to roaming around a place you shouldn't be," Harry said, getting back on track.

"Exactly," Ron added unnecessarily. "And I still want to know why."

Ginny looked all around her, first at Hermione, then Harry, and then at Ron. Keeping her eyes on his she said steadily, "I want to help you."

The three seventh years looked almost comically flabbergasted.

"_Excuse_ me? " Ron said slowly, after a pause.

Ginny titled her chin higher. "You see, " she began in a tone not unlike Hermione's, "I've figured out that you three are trying to figure out who framed Mr. Tinelle, and that you suspect Draco Malfoy of knowing something. That's why you were in the Slytherin common room; most likely you were trying to dig up dirt on Malfoy."

A light came into her eye. "I suppose that you must have used Polyjuice Potion to get inside like in your second year – well, without the cat incident and all" – Hermione blanched – "I didn't really understand why you'd pay more attention to this case than any other, but I snooped around a bit anyway. I mean, there are loads of Death Eater attacks on witches and wizards who don't support the Dark lately," she said this more to herself than to the three astonished people in front of her. "I was thinking that it could be because we knew Mr. Tinelle that you showed specific interest, but _now_ I think you three know something I've yet to decipher. You can always fill me in later, of course. Or should we –"

"No! There is no we! " Ron bellowed, ending Ginny's rant. She seemed to snap back to reality. "And I don't know what…what you're talking about! " He was obviously lying.

"Ginny, Ron's right," said Harry, agreeing with Ron although he wasn't supposed to have any idea of what Ginny was talking about. "Whatever we do has nothing to do with you; and we don't want to be followed." His green eyes were very serious.

"But I can help!"

"We'll owl if we need a walking liability," he finished rudely.

Ginny's jaw set hurtfully, but Ron said nothing in her defense. "I don't want to talk about this anymore; go to bed."

He waited at the foot of the stairs for Ginny to go. She sat on the chair for a minute longer, trying to defy his treatment of her, but then she got up and walked defeated in between Harry and Hermione, not looking at them. Her own brother was waiting for her to go to her room, as if he expected her to dash out as soon as he was gone.

Holding her chin high and defiant, Ginny ascended the stairs and made for her room.

She slowly took off her shoes and robes; waiting to hear the other three come up to bed. Sliding under the linen sheets Ginny heard the door to her room creak open and she shut her eyes quickly, but let them crack open a bit. It was Hermione checking in on her.

The redhead felt her eyes tear with indignation, but resisted the urge to sit up and have another row with the older girl.

It took a while to get to sleep, but Ginny eventually managed; her last thought being, 'I guess I'll have to solve this on my own.'

* * *

The next day at breakfast Ginny sat in between Colin and Neville, and eyed the Trio cagily.

Hermione was the only one who had acknowledged her presence with a subdued, "Morning." Obviously the boys were still miffed at her, and were planning on being as exclusive and immature to expand on that.

As Ginny grabbed a few slices of toast, determined not to let her hurt show, Colin spoke to her quietly.

"What's wrong? "

Ginny shrugged her shoulders and looked for the eggs. She began to reach for them, but when she saw that she'd have to ask Harry to pass it over; she let her arm fall and settled for just the toast.

"Nothing."

She didn't volunteer any more information. All the same Colin noticed the tension, and plodded on.

"Okay," he said hesitantly as Ginny ate her breakfast, pointedly looking away from her brother and his friends. "Okay, fine. What did you get up to last night?"

Ginny knocked her elbow painfully into the table and grimacing, caught her brother's eye, who had obviously heard Colin's question. Ron was continuously sneaking glances at her and Colin, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Sorry?" she wheezed, trying to appear distracted by the already diminishing pain in her arm.

"You know what I mean," Colin continued, a little too loudly for Ginny's taste. "You were jumpy all evening. And then when Neville mentioned that Ron, Harry and Hermione had potions, and had been heading near the Slytherin dorms, you –"

"_Oooh_!" Ginny said loudly, effectively ending Colin's recitation of the previous night's events. "Er, I went… " She dodged Ron's eyes. "I went to the Common Room, " she answered.

Whoever said he meant _Gryffindor_ Common Room?

"Neville talking about Potions reminded me that if I wanted to do well on the upcoming test, I'd have to get a head start. Sometimes, you just have to do things alone."

Ginny could see Ron stiffen from the corner of her eye and ignoring him, munched happily on her toast.

* * *

"Charms is first on the agenda…" Colin said distractedly to Ginny, on their way to the Common Room after breakfast. He was looking at his timetable and trying to figure out where they would be headed first.

"After that we have Defense, and then I have Arithmancy, while you clean out your inner-eye," Ginny said walking up to the Fat Lady.

"_Leo Fortis_," Colin said to the portrait, and she swung open. "Ginny, it's very important to See the future; lives might be saved by my persistent strife in the art of Divination."

"Or maybe," Ginny said to Colin, picking up various books for her courses, "you wanted to continue 'the strife' to take as many easy courses as you can."

She skipped down the steps in front of him and smiled at his innocent face. Colin opened the portrait for Ginny, and slung his arm around her on their way to Flitwick's classroom. Weaving their way between other students on their own way to class he said,

"You've seen right through my plan, what shall I do? " He gave her a crooked smile.

Ginny opened her mouth to respond, when a voice that was not her own answered Colin.

"She'll detach herself from this all too open display of underclass mating and return my paper to me."

Draco stood in front of Ginny whose previous smile dropped rapidly.

"We were talking, Malfoy, " Colin said. Draco looked at the photographer distastefully; trying – and succeeding – to emphasize the three inch height difference between them.

Draco smirked. "Oh, I'm sure you were." He stepped in between Colin and Ginny, breaking the friendly embrace and pushing Colin behind him.

Colin was brave enough as Gryffindors go, but he lacked the gumption to stand up to a Slytherin and merely stood back. No other students were in the hallway, and though he would never admit it, he did not want to go toe-to-toe with Draco Malfoy in an empty corridor.

Draco stood fully in front of Ginny, who managed not to look intimidated despite the fact that the height difference between herself and Draco was laughable.

"I'm sure you heard me, Weasley; I want my paper back."

Ginny clenched her fists and retorted, "And I'm sure that I'm not your dog. Don't order me around; I'll get your newspaper later."

Of course she wasn't going to run up and down the stairs just to please him, but she also wanted to scour it for more clues.

"If you'll excuse us…" Ginny maneuvered around Draco and grabbed her friend's arm, "We have a class to attend."

Draco eyed Ginny and grabbed the sleeve of her robe lightly. "Just as long as you remember to return what's mine." His slate eyes were peering into her brown ones; Colin stood behind Ginny, forgotten once again.

Ginny was momentarily at a loss for words as she stood under Draco's disconcerting gaze. Wanting to avoid it, she looked down and where his fingers met the shabby material of her robe.

She examined the pale, smooth skin and the long, slender fingers. They were manicured, but still had a very masculine look; they even looked soft…

Realizing that Ginny was looking at his hands just as a distraction from looking into his eyes, Draco rubbed the material in his fingers in a circular motion, tugging on the robes slightly. He was still looking down on Ginny with a playful, yet cruel smile on his lips. He let his little finger drop onto her wrist, just brushing it.

Startled, Ginny looked up; Colin abruptly snatched her arm away from the blond seventh year who was still smiling. As if just realizing that she had let her enemy play with her clothes, Ginny unnecessarily pulled her arm further away and moved back.

"Are you okay?" Colin asked worriedly, shooting Draco a quick and angry glance.

"Of course," Ginny answered, gaining composure. "Let's go. We're late." Sparing Draco one last hard look, she turned with Colin who was practically dragging her by the hand.

Draco stood in the corridor a little longer; watching Colin drag Ginny away with immense distaste in the pit of his stomach, and after a few more moments went his own way.

* * *

"The Pendragon Charm allows a witch or wizard to choose the amount of time the subject sleeps for. Depending on the gravity of your charm, your opponent may sleep for a few minutes, or a few hours. You all will practice putting each other to sleep for _only_ one to five seconds. Remember to use the correct unit of time! If there is any difficulty, please consult me. Get to work! " Professor Flitwick squeaked from the top of his books.

Colin turned to Ginny. "Yes…it's very simple that I might knock you out for a few days."

"Never mind that," Ginny insisted, pushing her hair behind her ear. "Do you want to go first?"

Ginny and Colin discussed who should be the first to undergo the Pendragon Charm. Although they had been running late because of their run-in with Draco in the hallway, Professor Flitwick had not noticed, as he had been setting pillows around the room.

When someone was under the influence of the charm, they slept while standing, but if they were asleep longer than a few seconds, they might fall. Hence the pillows.

"I'll put you under first, " Colin said finally, raising his wand.

Ginny shrugged. "Okay."

Colin swept his wand to the right, brought it down, and flicked. "_Dormiduae_," he said.

Ginny's eyes closed, and she stood still, seemingly unconscious for two seconds. After the time was up, her brown eyes flickered open and she asked, "Did it work?"

"Like a charm," Colin responded jokingly.

Ginny grinned and rolled her eyes. "Very funny, Colin. It's your turn." Wanting Colin to sleep for three seconds, Ginny followed the same movements, but instead chanted, "_Dormitria_."

After three seconds Colin awoke. "Professor Flitwick didn't tell us that after we woke up we wouldn't realize that we were spelled."

The redhead shook looked thoughtful. "I suppose it'll be some sort of question for tonight's homework." Wanting to talk, Colin decided to put the charm on Ginny for only one second.

"_Dormiuna_." Because the charm was only put on her for a short time, it seemed like Ginny had blinked and woken back up. "I just hope he doesn't give us an essay or some such nonsense," Colin said.

"This year is N.E.W.T. preparation, Colin," said Ginny. "I'm betting that we'll get an essay at least two feet long asking us about this charm and possible side effects."

Colin groaned. "I know we still have one year left of school after this, but I was hoping to land a job with the _Prophet_. I need to start getting serious –" Ginny interrupted with a snort.

"_More_ serious?" she raised an eyebrow and flicked her wand around absently so it seemed like she was working. "Is that why you've had your nose in the papers since the first day back?"

Colin nodded. "See, I suppose I'm an all right photographer. But there's no way I'll improve without studying the work of already accomplished wizards and witches."

Ginny looked at him in understanding. "So you want to see if you can produce the same sort of work? Mimic them a bit?"

"Sort of," said Colin. "I want to imitate their styles and then create new ones; that'll take time. I'll have to take pictures and develop them. Then I'll have to look them over and –"

"All that will take a while," Ginny finished.

"Exactly." Colin also moved his wand about; Flitwick was coming closer.

One Gryffindor dropped her wand and let out a distressed moan of, "Sorry!" to Professor Flitwick whom she had put to sleep accidentally. Two seconds later the little wizard popped up and patted the girl on the shoulder. "Er…added to tonight's homework I want you to practice precise aiming for fifteen minutes." Knowing that she got off easy, the girl nodded exuberantly with a small, "Yes Professor Flitwick!"

"Poor Butterfingers," Colin said looking at the girl who resumed the lesson with renewed vigor.

"Be nice, Colin!" reproached Ginny, although she also felt the same. Mavis Butters earned her nickname on a daily basis by being a sort of sixth-year Neville. As was the case with Neville, Mavis "Butterfingers" was not inept, but epically clumsy.

"Mr. Creevey…" said the Charms instructor now at Colin's elbow.

"Erm, right," said Colin performing the charm. Like clockwork Ginny closed her eyes and then opened them three seconds later.

"Very good! Miss Weasley?" Ginny did the same and also received praise. Flitwick ran up to the front of the room and waited for all of the spells to end.

"There are only about five minutes left, so I would like to give you your assignments. Two rolls of parchment on the Pendragon Charm and other charms that are related to it. Then I would like all of you to think about what the incantation for a minute-long and hour-long Pendragon Charm would be, and the possible problems that one would encounter. All the students I told to do further practice please do! Your N.E.W.T.S. are next year…"

The tiny man's words were drowned out by grumbles and groans, although the young witches and wizards dutifully wrote their assignments down.

"Class dismissed!"

Colin and Ginny headed outside for break amongst groups of other students leaving other classes.

"Well, as for your little predicament, I don't see how you're going to juggle developing pictures and all of this work at the same time unless you keep using your spare time," she told him while plucking the grass.

He shrugged.

"You should be glad," Ginny continued, pushing a strand of hair back, "that you don't have schoolwork, Quidditch practice, _and_ NEWT's all heaped together like some seventh-years do."

"If you mean your brother's group, don't forget Hermione's efforts with _spew_," said Colin laughingly.

Though Ginny had respect for Hermione's organization, she had not yet forgotten their argument the previous night. "Or if you're my brother and Hermione, finding some quality time together."

Colin laughed again. "I don't think that'll be a problem."

"Fine then. Well, what if you were Harry? Finding time for Quidditch, exams, loads of work, dodging best friends when they're snogging, and - and Voldemort," she finished.

Colin put an arm around Ginny. "Don't worry about that. The three of them always find a way to come out on top."

"If they weren't so stubborn, it wouldn't have to be just 'the three of them!'" Ginny protested.

"Well, you know how it is…" Colin said awkwardly.

He had never really had the stomach for adventure as Ginny did. With the addition of being Muggle-born, Colin had no desire to get involved with joining the Trio. It might risk his family becoming targeted.

"No, I don't. Ron and I aren't getting on right now, but I'm sure that he'll need my expertise any day," the redhead said confidently. "As a matter of fact, I developed a theory last night –"

"I thought you were doing Potions," Colin said a bit suspiciously.

"I mean, right before bed," she said quickly. "When I was putting on my nightdress."

"Okay," he said slowly. "Anyway, we'd best get going. Muggle Studies waits."

Ginny nodded and got up, eager for once to get off the subject.

* * *

Ginny ran down the steps hurriedly.

She had caught Draco's eye in the hallway between classes and he mouthed "Lunch" to her. Unsure of whether he meant that he wanted the paper before or after, Ginny decided to get it in advance. She wandered down the hallways peeking in classrooms to see where he would be.

"I don't know why he told me to meet him if he's not going to show," she said to herself. "Some people have no manners." Ginny looked into the Charms room she had occupied earlier when a hand grabbed her inside.

Throwing the paper, Ginny reached for her wand and spun around, pointing it at the person's face.

She narrowed her eyes. "Only you, Malfoy, would be so charming as to grab me into a deserted classroom without a word." Her wand was pointed at his forehead, but his wand was at hers, and he still held her left wrist.

"You took long enough," said Draco. "Why be polite?"

Ginny snatched her hand back and went to pick up his _Daily Prophet_.

"I'm surprised you didn't scream this time," the blond boy said nonchalantly.

Slapping the paper into his chest, Ginny said, "I was unprepared last time," and walked out of the classroom.

Then she hurried back.

"What do you mean, 'this time'?" she asked, not liking the smirk forming on his face.

"Well last time," he said sitting in a chair. "You made such a fuss what with running down the hall and then screaming your head off. Or didn't you think I'd know about your late-night jaunt to my common room?"

Ginny was speechless. She was torn between hastily denying it and running back out of the room, or staying and acting like she could care less that he found out.

She settled for a neutral ground. Ginny slid a chair a chair over and placed it a comfortable distance away from his own.

"How would you know anything about where I was last night?"

The classroom was quiet; there pillows were still out, but in a much more orderly fashion.

"Do you think that Salazar Slytherin would tell a horde of Gryffindor that there was another Gryffindor in their midst?" he scoffed.

"I don't understand. Slytherin was talking to my brother, Harry and Hermione –"

"So you _were_ there," Draco said looking very pleased.

Ginny reddened but rejoined, "You already guessed that, Malfoy."

"I just wanted to hear it from your lips, Weasley," said Draco, shrugging. "It's not often a _noble_ Gryff admits to wrongdoing. Especially one in Potter's crowd."

"That doesn't help any," Ginny protested.

"Must I spell it out for you?" he said incredulously. Ginny opened her mouth to retort, but Draco cut her off. "I guess I will. Slytherin was talking to _me_." Ginny looked even more confused.

"And you fancied yourself a detective," he sneered.

Once more Ginny was shocked. "How do you know about that?"

Draco stood and walked around the room. "I've been doing some investigating, myself."

"Have you been spying on me?!" Ginny jumped up. Draco turned a bit red.

"Isn't the pot calling the kettle black?" he said nastily. Ginny's mouth (which had been open for the past few minutes) shut. She stood awkwardly for a moment and was about to leave when she realized something. As disconcerting as it was to talk to Draco Malfoy for this long and have him know all of these things about her, she needed answers to old and new questions, and for some reason he seemed willing to give them to her.

"I knew you wouldn't leave," he said.

Ginny crossed the room to a shelf and stared at it. "Let me think."

He smiled crookedly. "Whatever you wish."

Ginny's mind was working furiously.

'Slytherin was talking to Malfoy… That meant Malfoy was _outside_ of his common room, because the portrait hadn't opened yet…No, wait, it _had_ opened… so he could have been coming out of the Common Room…But wouldn't it be difficult to come out of the portrait hole at the same time as the Trio without touching one of them?'

Ginny ceased ruminating momentarily and turned to ask Draco a question, when she found him alarmingly right behind her.

"Oh!" Ginny jumped.

"Problem?" he asked, very aware of why Ginny was startled. He knew that she would want to seem unaffected, though, and would not create more space between them even if it made her more comfortable.

"No! Just well you're – do you have an Invisibility Cloak?"

"Yes."

"Good…" Ginny tapped her lip as she thought even more. "By any chance, were you sneaking _in_to your Common Room?"

"Well done, Weasley," said Draco. "Although it took you long enough."

Ginny glared.

"It was very late at night when all of this happened – after curfew to be exact. I was out of the dormitory and didn't want to be caught, so I made sure to bring my cloak along. There is an antechamber next to Slytherin's portrait; however, it is disguised to look like a regular stone wall. When you came along, I was already in the antechamber getting ready to come out; but you knocked against the door in your…haste to get away. Then Potty, Granger, and your brother stomped out of the common room like animals. Slytherin said what he did to let me know that I should stay put.

After the four of you ran down the corridor, I left the antechamber to watch. Slytherin knew I was the real Draco Malfoy because no one knows about that antechamber other than people in my House; it was obvious that the real Malfoy was the one waiting inside of it."

The redhead was silent for a moment. "Well it was lucky that you hadn't gone inside. It wouldn't have been good for the Slytherins to have seen two Draco Malfoys…"

Draco narrowed his eyes. "You mean good for your little friends." Ginny didn't disagree.

"Why…why are you telling me all of this?" she asked instead.

He looked at her intently. "Last night, your being outside of the common room helped me to not walk in at the same time the Trio walked out. I suppose you could say that afterward, I noticed your worth." He smirked.

"I don't want to help you!" Ginny burst, reddening once more.

He stepped closer. "But you already are, Weasel. You're trying to figure out who exactly killed Mr. Tinelle, and why. Potter and friends are just assuming that it was my father without any concrete evidence. You're going to help me put them off of my trail; get them to see it wasn't me."

"How do I know you're _not_ involved?" Draco said nothing and Ginny nearly strangled him. "Tell me why I should help you."

Draco leaned down toward Ginny with a completely serious face. "Because you want to be right."

He bent down even more until their bodies were lightly pressed together. His hand was touching her waist.

Then The Great Hall doors slammed – lunch was over.

Ginny felt her robes shift a little near Draco's fingers and she swallowed. Stepping back without looking at her, Draco turned and walked to the entrance of the room.

Over his shoulder he said quietly, "Don't be late next time." Then he left.

Ginny released a breath she had not known she was holding and touched the side Draco had touched. There was something in her pocket – a piece of paper.

_You missed lunch, but I know you don't regret it. _

_I'm sure that you had a better time with me anyway. _

_Make your excuses and meet me in the kitchens, __9:00_

_Don't be late._

Ginny growled at his arrogance and shoved the parchment back into the pocket of the robe. 'Make your excuses, ' she thought, mimicking him. 'Ordering me around after he made me miss lunch.'

She walked out of the room, toward the Common Room to pick up her books. Then suddenly she stopped.

'He made me miss lunch…he wrote that on the note _before_ I saw him…'

* * *

Please review!

- Femme


	4. Four

Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay! I've had computer difficulties and had to re-write this chapter through a bout of writer's block. Thanks for all of the reviews! Please keep them coming!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all of the characters in this fanfiction do not belong to me. That is the pleasure of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros.

_Miss Cellophane_

* * *

The Great Hall doors blew open and Ginny sprinted down the stairs, books in tow.

There had not been much time after Draco left her until classes, and she had to get her books before she was late.

The hallway was already a sea of students' bobbing heads going to class. Ginny looked for Colin's own, but did not see it. Instead she walked alone reasoning that Colin would probably find her himself.

She was not disappointed.

"Hey," said Colin amiably walking next to the nervous redhead.

She flashed him a smile, but did not say anything.

"What did you get up to at lunch?" Colin asked. "You weren't there."

Ginny dodged her friend's face and shrugged a little.

"Oh," she said. "I forgot that I had some last minute Arithmancy homework to finish up. I wanted to eat, but there wasn't time."

Colin nodded and smiled. "You're so studious this year. Remind me to ask you for help on that Potions essay tonight, will you? I'm lost on where to find one of the ingredients. And since you've started it already, I figured that..." He tapered off.

"Oh, right!" Ginny said brightly, a bit late. Her mind was elsewhere – most likely thoughts about nine o'clock that night. "Yes, of course I'll help you."

Colin smiled at Ginny who smiled back and then looked away to frown.

'He'd better not count on me reminding him,' she thought, feeling bad. Although she said that she had gotten a head start on the essay, with all that was going on, Ginny had almost forgotten there was one and had not even begun to research the topic.

"I hope that you don't plan on missing too many meals, though," Colin continued. "We miss you; it gets quiet."

Ginny grinned at the joke – she was not known for being the most talkative person.

"It's good that Ron missed me," she said loftily. "He wanted to apologize for being so rude, most likely. Too bad I wasn't there." On the inside, Ginny was grinning like mad.

'Ron, Hermione and Harry probably reached a dead-end somewhere and need my help. They'll have realized my value and desperately need me,' she thought. Admitting to herself that maybe 'desperately needed' might be an overstatement, she assumed anyway that she was needed on some scale.

Colin looked at his friend oddly, stepping aside from a third year's swinging rucksack.

"I meant Neville and me, Gin," he said tentatively. "Ron and Harry were busy talking as if they hadn't seen the other in years. From what I caught, Hermione was in the library – not unusual. About halfway through lunch, I think they went to join her. Besides, when was Ron rude to you?"

Ignoring his last question, Ginny looked up at Colin with a frown. "So they didn't notice I wasn't there?"

Catching onto Ginny's disappointment he said hurriedly, "I'm sure they did! They probably didn't want to make a big deal out of it; you know how they are..."

"Yeah," said Ginny. She knew Ron, and not making a big deal out of something was unheard of, but she dropped the subject. "So next we've got...?"

"I'm heading for the North Tower with Trelawney, and you're with Vector for Arithmancy. But why aren't you speaking to Ron?" Colin asked.

"What makes you think I'm not speaking to him?" asked Ginny.

"You just said – never mind. How was he rude to you?"

"Like you said, you know how he is..."Ginny said.

Colin's forehead creased in confusion. "Then _when_ was he rude? I mean, it couldn't be this morning at breakfast because obviously I would have heard you arguing. Was it last night?"

Ginny and Colin came to the point where they would have to split up.

"I'll explain later. I have to go...to class," she said and half-ran, to the room.

Colin looked oddly at his friend's retreating back and then began the climb up the stairs.

"Damn that tower being so far away."

"Pincushion."

"_Livamatus_!"

_Spffh!_

"Porcupine..."

"_Sillanimatus_!"

_Poof!_

"Chair. Good show, Gin," said Colin, eying the brown chair sitting next to his table.

In revision of some of the previous year's work, Professor McGonagall asked her students to turn pincushions into their animate counterparts, porcupines. However, the students had to turn their animals into chairs. If all was well with that, they were to turn them back into the cushions.

"Thanks, Colin." Ginny smiled and look at her own brown chair, then at Colin's plushy one – his plushy, mauve one. "Shall we test them?"

Colin shrugged and looked at the chairs once more with a wary eye. "We have to."

"You first, then," said Ginny quickly.

Colin raised an eyebrow.

"It's not that I'm _scared_ or anything," she said. She jumped as one more agitated student slammed the door shut on their way to the Infirmary. Many of the transfigured chairs had proved to be just as spiky as the porcupines had been.

"Purple is simply a majestic color. It begs to go first."

Colin wagged his finger at her. "It's _mauve_, not purple. And it happens to be one of my favorite colors." He did not want to admit that the color he had aimed for was a dark blue.

Ginny snorted. "Of course it is! On Opposite Day."

"I guess that I'll be the brave one then," Colin spoke. The redhead nodded.

Surreptitiously checking for any pointy looking objects in his chair, Colin sat. Then he moved back into the back rest. Afterward he moved his bottom around in exaggeration to show that all was well. The chair squeaked a bit.

"Ignoring a few rusty springs, my chair seems to be in top order," he boasted.

Ginny looked around the room at some of the students who had succeeded.

Gavin Wotwright, a Hufflepuff boy determined to be 'just like Hermione Granger' – he constantly proclaimed – was flipping between his pincushion, porcupine and couch so rapidly that it seemed like a slideshow. Professor McGonagall gave him a rare smile reserved for few. Knowing that one of those few was often Hermione made the boy blush with pride. His partner, Mavis Butters, seemingly loss control of her wand. It promptly smacked the blue-eyed boy in the face. Under his shoulder-length blond hair, Gavin now began to blush of embarrassment. The discreet smirk and shrug that Ginny caught off Mavis made her wonder if it was completely an accident.

Ginny shook her head and turned back to Colin. "It doesn't take a genius to do this, you know. I mean, if _you_ did it..."

"We'll see," he said. He patted his chair as it squeaked.

Ginny began to gingerly lower herself into the brown chair. The classroom door slammed close yet again as an injured Hufflepuff waddled from the room. At the sudden noise, Ginny fell quickly into the object.

Almost immediately after, she jumped up; her mouth rounded in an 'o'.

About five short porcupine pins were jammed in her lower back, while two silver sewing needles stood out from her backside.

Just as immediately, Colin doubled over with laughter as his friend reddened in embarrassment and pain. His chair squeaked along at his jerky movements.

"Shut it, Colin!" demanded Ginny. "Oh, just shut up!"

She tried to take a step forward, but the pins stuck her even more. Her eyes watered, and so did Colin's as he continued laughing.

"Of...of all the things!" He slapped his knees with glee. "Oh...oh... my stomach hurts!" His chair continued squeaking, though a bit louder as he stuttered exclamations out. "You really should see your face, love. Oh!"

His back lowered into the chair. "Oh!"

"Colin..." muttered Ginny dangerously.

"Sorry, it's just...oh! _Oh!_"

At the last 'oh', Colin's face had taken an odd turn.

"There's something...something here..." he muttered shifting around in his seat. The chair squeaked loudly. "It's moving around behind my back!" he exclaimed.

Once again he began to laugh a little.

"Colin...?" Ginny asked.

"It's tickling me!" The chair squeaked and Colin kicked the bottom of the chair with his foot as he continued to laugh. Then it was his turn to jump from the chair.

"It bit me!" he shouted. When he turned to look at his chair, Ginny began to laugh while Colin clutched his back and looked with wide eyes. The chair squeaked.

Indeed it had bitten him. The small beady eyes of a frenzied porcupine looked up at the odd pair, and with a malicious squeak bared its teeth.

"I guess you're not better than me, Colin!" Ginny chuckled. "You'll just have to _face_ the facts."

Professor McGonagall took that opportunity to check on them.

"Your chair still had pins, Ms. Weasley?" the formidable woman asked.

Sobering herself Ginny nodded.

"And yours has a face?" she asked Colin. Ginny snorted, and then ducked her head as the Gryffindor Head looked at her reproachfully.

He nodded his head slightly.

"Very well. Your homework is not only to research and practice the Tri-Transfiguration assigned for tonight, but to practice this one. Go to the Infirmary, you two." She walked away to another team.

Ginny and Colin both waddled their way out of the room, whispering insults at the other and clutching their backs.

* * *

Ginny was lost.

Of course that was her intention, but she was surprised how quickly and suddenly it had happened once she stopped trying.

After dinner, she concluded that lingering around the Dining Hall was not an option, nor was going back to the Common Room. Both would result in her whereabouts being apparent directly after the meal. If so, Colin would trail her for the remainder of the evening, forcing her to keep to her promise of helping with the Potions essay.

Leaving directly after dinner had been enough of a clench itself. Perhaps she was being overcautious, but she had partially mapped out a plan in her mind for a getaway. Leaving dinner too early would be suspicious, after all, she should be ravenous from not having had lunch – and she was. The best possible means of escape were to mesh with the crowd. Once the 'after-dinner' rush commenced, she could lose Colin.

That part of the plan had worked.

However, there was still about an hour until the agreed meeting time.

'Or the time _he_ agreed with himself on,' thought Ginny irritably.

Aside from figuring out how to ditch Colin, the hardest parts lie in not being seen after dinner. Ginny was unsure of how long she would be meeting Draco for, but if she came back late enough to not see Colin or Neville until the next morning, they would ask her where she was. Of course she would have to lie again, but it would be easier to make up something if no one could claim to have seen her somewhere else. That was proving impossible.

She had already had a close shave with Neville, of all people.

For some reason, the boy had been walking around the West Wing – the opposite direction one would want to go in if they desired to go to Gryffindor Tower. When she saw him, Ginny ducked into a shadowed area beside a pillar holding a lit torch. At first Neville had been steadily heading in her direction. Then he abruptly turned and walked the other way. Relieved, Ginny had had to wait for his footsteps to subside until she could come out.

Next, it had been Michael Corner. True to his namesake, he emerged from a dark corner with a flushed and tousled (still gorgeous, if not more so) Cho Chang. Apparently they were still going strong (although there was an interlude Michael had with a Hufflepuff at the end of Fifth Year and during the summer); 'More power to them,' Ginny thought.

She skirted that area and turned a corner instead, not only from fear of discovery, but embarrassment.

At 8:11, it was Hephaestus Brommel, a dodgy Hufflepuff whom Ginny barely knew, but a boy who often chatted with Colin on photography.

Around 8:15 Ginny very nearly ran into an intolerable Gavin Wotwright, prancing about the halls, puffing his chest forward and getting a forty-five minute jumpstart on his 'prefectual duties'. She all but ran from him, not caring if he heard her footsteps.

After all of these encounters, Ginny opted for allowing herself to simply wander around and getting lost naturally. And it worked, quickly, too.

She found herself in some obscure part of the castle. There were a lot of older paintings in the area that she had never seen nor heard of. She met a portrait who claimed to have come close to being the Gryffindor portrait.

"I do miss seeing those smart, young, attractive ladies such as you. The fire of Gryffindor women..."

Ginny stared.

"The fire of their _minds_, I meant...of course..."

He stood up in his dark blue pantaloons and Ginny hurriedly walked away with his voice following her. "Come back again sometime!"

There was no doubt as to why he had not become their house portrait.

But there were other nice ones that Ginny saw. Many of the paintings were rushing back and forth. According to the portrait grapevine, there was a ball in Lucretia the Peerless's painting in the East Wing, one woman told her. Ginny waved as the woman smiled and portrait-hopped away.

Ginny then turned a corner and was faced with a dead-ended hall.

"_Lumos_," she whispered. The torches here were either off or in the process of dying out.

However, there was a wavering glow in a room at the end of the corridor on the left side. The right side of the corridor was blank, with only wall space, not even a painting. Against it, Ginny could see swaying shadows, being caused by the orange glow opposite it.

'There's probably a fire going in there,' she thought of the small room. She wanted to explore it, but needed to know exactly how much time she had until nine. Pushing her sleeve back, Ginny started.

"Damn!" she cursed.

'8:56, I'm going to be late.'

With a wistful look at the room, Ginny turned on her heel and hurried back around the corner she came.

A feeling of despair then came when she looked down the hall she had seemingly so easily come down. There were various corners she could have turned to get there, and she had no idea which.

'I'll take the stairs then,' she thought. 'I remember coming _up_ the stairs at some interval. If I go down one flight, I might be more familiar with the area.' Her panic increased as the stairs moved around at their leisure. She thought of how long it had taken her to get lost, and how long it might take to get to the kitchens.

'My first meeting with Malfoy, and I'm standing him up,' she worried. Ginny wondered hopefully if he was similarly detained. During the course of dinner, she had discreetly looked for him at the Slytherin table. He was not there, but then again, neither were Crabbe and Goyle.

'Hopefully' – she thought wryly – 'he's up to some kind of mischief and needed Crabbe and Goyle's physical backing.'

The stairs let her off in an area with a lot of large windows, and Ginny began walking around, hoping to see something familiar.

She did not.

Growling a bit, she surreptitiously checked the watch again and groaned. '8:58...no wait,' the watch ticked, '8:59'.

"Damndamndamndamndamndamn...Okay, that's useless," spoke Ginny to herself. "I just need to find a familiar landmark. Anything! A scuffed shoe mark I've seen before...or...or toilet paper... I don't know!"

She slumped against the wall. "After all of the bloody suicide missions Tom sent me on, you'd think I'd know the whole school by now." The back of her head hit the wall.

This part of the castle only held more unfamiliar paintings. One portrayed a gory pub fight in which a man's head lie on the floor, shouting insults at his perplexed body that was still fighting its attackers. Another was of a man and woman embracing in a situation that was becoming less innocent by the minute. Ginny glanced at it for longer than a second, and the woman caught her eye and glared.

"I honestly wasn't watching! I...you were..."

The woman huffed, tossed her curly brown hair and shut the hangings around the room with one last rude glare at Ginny.

"Hag," muttered Ginny.

She banged her head against the wall again for good measure and risked a look at another painting of a tall, armored man on a horse. The backdrop was a mountainside, and a waxing moon hung in the sky.

The man looked at her, gave her a melancholy smile and said, "Always look to the North for truth."

He then resumed stargazing, with the same mournful, tortured lover look on his pale face. Oddly enough, his subtly dramatic ways – although much calmer – reminded Ginny of what Sir Cadogan might be like, if he was not constantly on a neurotic rampage.

Ginny thought about his ambiguous words. "North...truth..." she mumbled.

Jumping up suddenly, she silently cursed her stupidity. "Am I a bloody witch or not?!"

"_Lumos_!" she said whipping out her wand, and peering into the dark. "_Point me_." The wand swiveled north wise, and Ginny almost cheered.

She reckoned that if she kept going north, eventually she would get to the North Tower and sort her way out from there.

Ginny speed-walked for what seemed like ages because of the dark and shadows, until she heard a familiar rant.

"Halt, knave and fight like a man, you scurvy coward!"

Sir Cadogan's eyes bulged, and he cleared his throat noisily when he saw it was Ginny.

"Fair lady, what business dost thou have in these parts so late in the evening?"

She stopped walking and put her hands on her knees, catching her breath.

"Never... mind that," she responded, winded. "I'm stopping...here for a moment. Merlin, I'm glad to see you."

Cadogan's armor clanked noisily as tried to bow, forgetting he was still on horseback, and landing on the ground. He got up and stood very straight.

"It is no matter, Gentlewoman," he declared, as if his very being was the reason for her gladness.

Ginny shrugged. "I can't stay for very long. I don't even know why I stopped, really."

A part of her wanted to run until she got to Malfoy, so as not to dig her grave deeper. The other part of her wanted to postpone the meeting for just a little longer...maybe until she was a bit older...like, dead.

Breathing in very deeply Ginny stood tall and began to walk again, when Sir Cadogan's silhouette reminded her of the other knight errant.

"Er...Sir Cadogan," she hesitated. She had never directly addressed him. Usually she ran past him, hoping that he would not follow. "Earlier, I saw a rather nice portrait that reminded me of you."

Ginny could imagine his brow furrowing as he thought for a second. Then his armor clinked again as he faced her rigidly.

"Bah!" he groused. "You speak of Sir Chancery, a pansy of knight if ever there was one." He continued with disdain. "My brother: a weak, mush-minded, soft-hearted _stargazer_."

"Right...sure..." Ginny drew out. "Actually, he was very helpful; I kind of liked him."

"Of course you did!" Cadogan bellowed. Ginny winced. His voice bounced off of the cold, stone walls in the empty corridor. "You liked him for the womanly similarity in him!"

"Alright then," said Ginny uncertainly.

'That portrait is unhinged,' she thought.

"Goodnight..." She walked on quickly, the knight's voice following her.

"Remember me if I do not make it through this harsh night, for tonight, I do battle...!"

The rest died out as she went further out of range.

She glanced at the watch – 9:05. Then she just ran.

'If nothing else, by the end of this case I'll certainly be in great shape.'

She ran, and ran, and ran. Sometimes she stumbled over her steps, but went doggedly on ahead anyway. The distance was as great as if she had been running from Trelawney's classroom. And as she no longer took Divination, Ginny was nervous that she might get lost. It almost seemed like a maze, the way the windows blurred past her, identical in shape and size, one after the other.

Finally, she came to a familiar place. 'Once I turn this corner, I'll only have to go down the hall past the Charms room.'

Blundering along, and breathing heavily, Ginny felt every bit like a race horse. The room loomed closer, in an almost tantalizing way. There were two more rooms...one more room...she was going by it...

Just as she was going past it, a hand shot out of the room and grabbed her arm. Jerking back, she stumbled and fell with an "oomph!" on her behind. Ginny quickly looked up and paled at his evident displeasure.

"9:07," said Draco Malfoy. "You're late."

If Ginny could have rewound the past hour she spent gallivanting around Hogwarts, she would have in a second. Just from the look on his face.

What excuse would hold up against a seven minute deficit?

"Well, you see...I..." How annoying was it to have absolutely nothing to say?

"Don't just stand there in plain view like an idiot," he said sharply.

He began speaking before Ginny rose. "I didn't ask you to come here so that I would have to wait for –"

Ginny stood up on her own; obviously, he was not going to give her a hand. "No, Malfoy, you didn't ask me. Perhaps _order_ is the word you're searching for." She pulled the paper from her robes pocket as she walked into the dark classroom.

His eyes narrowed. "I did order you, because I assumed correctly that you were incapable of doing something so easy. Did or did I not specify a time?"

Ginny thought about what to say. No fear of him would allow her to let Draco speak to her the way he was...even if she _had _dawdled. "I ran into trouble."

He laughed sarcastically. "Of course you did."

"Well, you didn't follow the 'specified directions' either. The note said the kitchens –"

"Don't be stupid, Weasley. I wouldn't be caught dead in the kitchens. It's enough that those bloody house elves are supposed to remain unseen, yet they're around anyway. I don't need to seek them out."

"Then why did you –"

"Do you make it a habit of asking idiotic questions before thinking?" said Draco aggravated. "I would go knocking on McGonagalll's door after curfew if I wanted to let people know that I was sneaking out after hours, instead of going to the kitchens where I am not as welcome –" Ginny snorted.

"Or welcome at all..."

"Whatever; it was just a ruse."

Ginny nodded curtly, still skeptical. "If you ask me, your plan was still shoddy." Her statement warranted a glare. "Suppose I hadn't come this way to go to the kitchens. We wouldn't have been able to meet up."

The blond waved his hand at Ginny as if to dissolve her thought

"Good thing I didn't ask you, then. Anyway I'd have known if you were there. Crabbe and Goyle have been gorging down there. No doubt you would have left right away after seeing them, and passed by here. I would have met you there. So enough questions, this was difficult enough." He gave Ginny and icy look, noticeably exasperated; the bickering ceased.

A clanking sound was heard in the distance and Ginny reflexively stepped closer to Draco, who whispered, "It's only Filch's big feet. Calm down."

Ginny kept stonily silent and Draco looked at her for a second more and then stuck his head out of the doorway, looked right and left, and then pulled it back in.

"Now I know that pack-horses have issues with quiet, but try as hard as your poor little brain can. down the halls late at night with that repulsive caretaker all over the castle..."

The redhead flushed with embarrassment and anger. So he _had_ heard her running down the corridor.

"Worry about yourself, Malfoy. You've got loads of experience with that," she retorted.

"I'll follow that advice in the future. Filch has been patrolling up and down this hallway because his bloody cat knows I'm here. So if Mrs. Norris and her squib lover find you, don't expect my help."

"Because Slytherins have no honor," retorted Ginny.

Draco raked his hand through his un-gelled hair as Ginny put the paper away and looked anywhere but at him. "Not true; we just don't waste it on the like of you."

He checked once more to see if the coast was clear and very quietly glided from the room and went off for the steps. When he arrived safely in the shadow off the tall walls next to the grand stairway, he noticed that Ginny had not followed. But the redhead had again heard something coming from the direction of the Great Hall...Filch?

"Must I hold your grubby little hand?"

Ginny's head snapped front to greet the harsh whisper. "I'd rather die," she whispered harshly.

After a few moments she joined him at the oak banister. The winding wood, usually so cheerful seeming in the daylight seemed foreboding, as it appeared to hover in the air and spiral up and away into the darkness. The creaky steps were unusually firm under her feet, but instead of being reassuring, they made Ginny feel like she was standing fixed on cement blocks. It was probably just her though, she figured miserably, as Draco began to ascend the stairway with the ease of someone who is used to skulking about in the dark.

When the quiet began to become oppressive as Ginny continuously followed the tall figure in front of her, she tried to think of a topic to broach the silence.

"Did you, uh, have run-in with Mrs. Norris, then?" she spoke quietly.

Draco turned his head around for a brief second, but continued walking along, occasionally looking this way and that. Ginny hoped he knew where he was leading her.

"Well?"

Draco's fist clenched agitatedly. "Well, what Weasley?"

The redhead fidgeted a bit. "Mrs. Norris..."

"You're still on about that damned cat?"

"I don't know..." muttered Ginny. So much for decent conversation. If there was going to be another silly spat, she would rather have the silence.

"Obviously I wouldn't know either. Everyone knows that abnormal flea-trap has some kind of sick sixth-sense about students." He shrugged. "I got there a little early, maybe she saw me."

Ginny was silent once more, and simply settled for following Draco quietly. The main staircase had switched a while back to another that was far more narrow and creaky, but much shorter. Soon the pair was walking through a deserted hallway on another floor. A dusty blue light was filtering through the windows as the late hour approached.

'It's not even twelve yet, and it's so dark,' Ginny thought apprehensively. She looked around her for anything familiar, but just as she was lost before meeting up with Draco, the part of the castle they were in was unfamiliar. It had the same feeling of abandonment that made Ginny wary. Not many people would be so brave as to follow Draco Malfoy into uncharted parts of Hogwarts castle. There were so many tricks and nooks and passageways that if something should ever happen to her, it might take a while for anyone to find where she had gone.

Ginny thought of the nasty Slytherin that Fred and George had shut up in a disappearing closet before they left, and how long it took for anyone to find him. Never had she felt such sympathy for a Slytherin.

Abruptly, a wall came into Ginny's view, she jumped back, her steps clacking on the stone floor and echoing away.

"Pay attention," hissed Draco.

Ginny began to feel her temper rise for probably the thousandth time in the night so far. Her thoughts had been running loose, and she had almost run into a wall as Draco turned a corner.

"Malfoy, where are we going?" she demanded.

Draco growled with increased irritation. "You'll see, Weasley."

"You can't just –"

Draco began humming an unfamiliar tune over Ginny's words with exaggerated nonchalance. Fists balling up, Ginny stalked after the blond in renewed silence. The walking continued.

The two turned another corner, and Ginny's brow wrinkled with minor recognition. The hall was now a dead end, but not the same one that she had come to before. The room was on the opposite side that it had been earlier.

When they reached a room at the end of the hall, Draco stepped inside and walked straight to the opposite wall. The wall was sturdy and made of wide rectangular bricks, Ginny noted absently, looking around.

Draco pulled out his wand and tapped it in a seemingly random pattern. "Come on," he said briskly.

Ginny snorted. "If you were looking for hidden treasure, I'm sure that the wall's not hollow and hiding some."

Draco's back remained turned to her, but she could imagine him smirking after what happened next.

Not unlike the barrier at Diagon Alley, the bricks began to shift and turn and tumble under and over the others creating a hole big enough for people to pass through.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Weasley, but no hidden treasure." Ginny reddened. "I suppose its back to digging through rubbish bins again."

"Just go through the stupid wall, Malfoy!" the redhead grumbled angrily.

Draco smirked a little and bowed, holding his hands out. "After you, of course; I wouldn't want to be pushed or anything like that, if it should happen."

Ginny stood up straight and stalked straight for the hole, when she came through the other side, she could not help but be a little confused.

"I don't think I came through properly, something must have happened..." she said turning around. But Draco was already dusting himself off after climbing through, and the wall was closing.

When he heard Ginny's protesting moan, he looked up and rolled his eyes.

"What now?"

Ginny began to say that she did not think they had gone to another place; that somehow they had just ended up going through the wall and coming back into the same room, until she saw that the entrance was on the other side of the room. Also, from what she could discern in the dark, the coloring of the room seemed different somehow.

"I...nothing..." she looked around in more detail. There were small couches backed up against each wall, and a small table in the center of the room. A dark fireplace was a few paces away from her, but the room was not as chilly as the other had been. There was also a lingering smell of ashes.

"Hang on a minute," Ginny said, walking toward the entrance. She poked her head out of the door and saw a more familiar hall. It was the hall where she had been earlier.

"Wow..." she said quietly, coming back inside. Draco had situated himself in one of the chairs and was pointing his wand at the fire place.

"_Incendio_." A small fire sparked up in the small room, giving the two a little more light. Ginny saw that the room was mostly decorated with finished mahogany wood but there were some spots, such as on the mantle place, where Ravenclaw insignias were staring out at her. She looked closely at the three walls that weren't brick and saw that tiny Ravenclaw insignia patterns made up the wallpaper. The chairs were a navy blue, and in front of them were small azure footrests.

"Satisfied?"

Ginny spun around and looked at Draco.

"Hmm? Oh, right...yes...Yes, it's very nice." She continued her survey.

Draco sighed exasperated. "But?"

Ginny shrugged and a bit nervously sat in a chair across from him. "Well, where exactly are we?"

Draco looked at her with a blank face that portrayed disbelief. He waved his arm around at the walls and at the Rowena Ravenclaw portrait over the mantle place. Luckily the former Head of House was sleeping securely in her staunch copper frame.

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "I obviously understand that we're somewhere near the Ravenclaw common room, but what is _this_ place exactly?"

"Beggars shouldn't be choosers, Weasley."

Ginny threw up her hands with exasperation. "Do you realize, Malfoy, that we've established that you asked me to meet you tonight? If you want to be stupid and immature, we can continue to argue ourselves into circles, but it's already been done. But fine, if it pleases you, I'll make sure to throw a recycled insult at you tomorrow so we can begin this all over again."

Draco examined his nails, seemingly unaffected. "I hold you to that, Weasley." Ginny growled.

"This room has been here since the Founders' Time," he finally began. "There are three other ones similar to it; you've seen one other just now. The one we are in right now was Rowena Ravenclaw's." Draco straightened in his seat, an excited glint in his eye. "The best way to explain what the rooms are for exactly is to think of them as common rooms, or staff rooms for the Heads-of-House; although teachers are allowed to be here if invited."

"What house is the adjoining room from?" asked Ginny.

"Hufflepuff," answered Draco.

"But where are the other two rooms?" Ginny questioned relentlessly. "When I came this way earlier, I only saw this one."

Draco lifted an eyebrow. "You mean earlier when you supposedly 'ran into some trouble'?"

"Yes," said Ginny quickly. "Well...sort of. I didn't want to be followed by anyone, so I tried to get myself lost." Ginny shrugged. "It turned out all right in the end."

"When trying not to be tailed by others, it is always a good idea to know where you yourself are going, Weasley," Draco stated. "And anyway, I don't exactly think that your brother and his little friends were dying to see where you were off to."

"I do have other friends, Malfoy," Ginny said angrily.

Draco stood and walked near the fire, smiling cynically. "Oh, right. _Creevey_."

Ginny turned. "Yes, _Creevey_. And he's one of my best friends, so I won't sit here and listen to you belittle him."

"You mean one of your only friends, Weasley."

The cushy chair sighed as Ginny pushed herself farther back into it. "Let's just start the meeting, or whatever this is."

Draco stared at the back of Ginny's head for a moment before coming around to look at her and sitting down.

"Fine."

He reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a miniscule gray object. Ginny watched as he placed it onto the table and held his wand over it.

"_Engorgio_."

The object proved to be the newspaper that Draco had lent her. Draco removed another shrunken paper from his robe and enlarged it. This time it was a piece of crinkled parchment with small, elegant handwriting on it.

"What is this?" asked Ginny picking up the tan parchment.

_Impressive and Imperial Knowledge Worthy of a King: All You Need to Know about the Imperious_ by Martin Boot

_Prophets of the Past: Daily Prophet Issue 27.BXTY_ by Ingrid Bridle

_The Boggling Book of Mind Control_ by Dizzy Shepherd

_Disguise, Lies, and Curses_ by Edward Nottingham

Ginny was more than a little confused by the booklist, but nonetheless intrigued. Three of the books were about curses – two of them specifically for the Imperious. Ginny was unsure what the second one was supposed to be of, though it did have something to do with the _Daily Prophet_.

"What do I need this list for?" she asked looking up at Draco.

Draco sighed. "I don't know what your experience is with Unforgivables – mostly the Imperious, but I doubt that it holds up to what I need it to be if you will help me. So I want you to go to the library and pick up the books on the list." After a beat he admitted. "And I want to make sure that there aren't any facts I'm unaware of."

Ginny smirked, not taking offense to his mild insult. "I have no reason to know about Unforgivables, Malfoy. So I'm sure that these will come in handy."

Draco's eyes flashed in annoyance. "Well you had better make sure that they do, Weasley. You don't need to be around the Dark Arts to know about Unforgivables and such curses. Everyone should have a basic knowledge of them."

"To inflict on others?" asked Ginny unabashedly.

"No," Draco said firmly. "For protection."

Ginny had no response for that. It was the truth.

"What about the second reference on the list?" she inquired.

Draco glanced at it. "That one is a reference book of all of the _Daily Prophet_ articles from the last ten years. Tinelle is not a widely known wizard, but he was mentioned fairly frequently in the news around the time he got his job. From what I've...heard, there was a lot of competition between Tinelle and another man who wanted his job. And the other man was supposedly more qualified."

Ginny looked doubtful. "Well, we see who was more qualified if Mr. Tinelle got the post and the other man lost out."

"That's not it, Weasley," Draco contended. "The other man was rumored to be a Death Eater."

Ginny's eyes widened. "Oh..." She understood why Mr. Tinelle had won now.

Draco yawned widely, still managing to make it look sophisticated. "Anyway, I want you to go to the library, like I said, and check these out – not all at once of course, but gradually."

Ginny shook her head doubtfully. "But this last one, _Disguise, Lies, and Curses_, sounds like something that would be in the Restricted Section. I'll need to get a teacher to agree on letting me check it out, and not many teachers are willing to anymore."

Draco glared at the redhead condescendingly. "Then do that! Sneak it out or something, I don't know! Be creative; I've given you the list, the least you can do is just get them out. How difficult can it be? I obviously can't get them myself, or trust me" – Ginny snorted – "I would."

"I realize that, Malfoy, I'm not an idiot."

It was apparent to both of them that great caution would be needed – especially for Draco. He would need to remain as innocent in the public eye as possible. And checking out books that were on Unforgivable Curses and old articles about the man that his father was suspected of framing was certainly not a way to go about doing that.

A light flickered on in Ginny's mind. "You know, Malfoy," she began slyly, "keeping yourself in a good light might mean having to lay off of my brother and his friends..."

Draco laughed. "Weasley, laying off of your brother would call more attention to me than anything else." He stood up. "Nice try, though." He began to walk out of the room.

Ginny jumped up as well. "Wait! Where are you going?"

He looked at her blankly. "To bed; it's late." He held up his watch – it was past twelve.

Ginny was fully surprised. The time had flown by rather quickly, and now she had to make it back to bed before anyone figured out that she was _not_ in bed. She hastily picked up the scrap of paper off the table and squashed it in her pocket. Looking up at the entrance to the room, Ginny expected to see Draco, but he was not there. She ran out of the room to see him about to turn a corner.

"Malfoy, wait!" she demanded, not caring if she woke up the dead. He could not just leave her alone, in the dark, at night.

But he did not turn around. "Think of it as a lesson in independence, Weasley," he called back.

And he had the nerve to quicken his pace. Ginny could imagine him laughing and itched to smack any amusement straight off of his face. She ran down the hallway, but when she turned to corner, no one was in sight.

"Damn him!" Ginny whispered angrily.

She was left alone again and in the dark.

* * *

When Ginny finally reached Gryffindor Tower without any further mishaps, she was still irked, but too tired to think on it very much. Dragging herself in front of the Fat Lady, Ginny whispered the password.

The portrait ignored it.

"Young lady, what are you doing outside of your room this late? In my day, ladies did not run about the castle at night, doing Merlin knows what! It was thought indecent!"

Ginny clenched her teeth. "I _said_ 'Pig-jig Jellybean!" The portrait sniffed and swung open. "And thank Merlin that it's not your day anymore."

Gasping indignantly, the Fat Lady forced Ginny to step through quickly – she had tried to shut the door on the weary girl. But once it had shut tight, Ginny closed her eyes and fell back against it.

It had been a night of few revelations, and the only illuminating parts led Ginny to more questions. She almost began to become dizzy with the though of trying to decipher Draco Malfoy and all of the possible motivations that led him to seek her help. It would have been so much _simpler_ if Ron had allowed Ginny to join them; then there would be no need to make deals with the devil.

Opening her eyes slowly and looking around the dim room, Ginny noted that the fire was low and cast tall, thin shadows around the dim room. Ginny sank low into the long couch closest to her and wondered if she should just spend the night there. She doubted if she was capable of going all the way up the stairs, while trying to be as quiet as possible and sneaking into bed.

She looked around the room some more, getting used to the sight of the common room late at night. Of course she had been there after bedtime hours before, but it was usually for work, and Colin was with her.

'Is this what Ron sees every time he comes back from late-night mischief?' she wondered.

There were no papers scattered anywhere, and the room looked as if it had been copiously cleaned. The house elves had probably come about an hour before, as it was now reaching half-past the midnight hour according to the clock above the fireplace.

That was why it was so strange to Ginny to see a lone book lying open on the coffee table in front of her.

She leaned forward slowly, feeling stupid that she was being wary of a textbook, but was unwilling to risk not checking it out.

Ginny smiled when she saw it in the soft firelight; it was just a sixth-year's Potions book. On opening, Ginny saw that transcribed in the inside cover was the words: _Ex Libris: Colin Creevey_.

Ginny shot straight up – she had forgotten all about Colin.

A little voice inside of her reminded her that ditching him had been her primary intention. Groaning loudly, Ginny shut the book and fell back once more into the couch, putting her hand over her eyes.

Slow, muted thumps sounded on the stairs, and Ginny's head swiveled in their direction.

"I hope I don't have that effect on everyone."

The couch sagged down on the side that Colin sank into. He looked incalculably displeased and even hurt.

"Explain."

Ginny's mouth remained open, poised to spout out whatever explanation came forth first.

She had been doing that a lot lately.

* * *

- Femme


	5. Five

Author'sNotes: This chapter is out much faster than usual. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine…

_Miss Cellophane_

* * *

The couch sagged down on the side that Colin sank into. He looked incalculably displeased and even hurt.

"Explain."

Ginny's mouth remained open, poised to spout out whatever explanation came forth first.

She had been doing that a lot lately.

* * *

"Explain. No, wait, maybe I should go first, seeing as I've had plenty of time to sit and think about what I would say to you when you returned."

"Colin…"

"But I really didn't expect to wait for almost six hours to do it! I didn't expect to wait at all."

Ginny became a bit angry at that comment. "Colin –"

"You see, I left my book here so that if I finally became _overwhelmed_ with exhaustion and went to bed, you would know that I had been around. But luckily I only had time to get to the top of the stairs when you came in, so I've been able to catch you…doing whatever it is you've just done."

Ginny waited until she could fully tell that Colin had finished his rant.

"It's not half as dramatic as you're making it out to be," Ginny started. "And I am sorry that you waited for me, whether out of concern or to simply yell at me. But don't assume that because I told you that I would help you, I would be at your beck and call as soon as there was time."

Colin looked at Ginny with an open mouth, frowning. "Where did any of that come from? I never said-"

"You did!" Ginny argued. "You said you 'never expected to wait at all'. Did you think that I would pop up beside you right at the end of dinner so that I could be your servant?"

"Since when has helping your friends become such a burden, Ginny? If you didn't want to help me you should have said so."

Ginny sat up. "It wasn't that I didn't want to. Something came up and I couldn't. And if an apology is what you're looking for, I'm giving one – wholeheartedly. I'm sorry, Colin. It won't happen again."

Colin continued to look at Ginny with hard eyes, but they began to soften, although they still looked suspicious.

"Fine," he said. His posture became less stiff and he sat back slowly. "Fine. I was just worried, I guess. You've been acting strangely. And saying odd things."

Ginny eased back as well. Relief began to seep through her with the hope that Colin had finished his interrogation. However, her annoyance with him only made her feel guiltier – they had only argued because she had all but ditched him.

"Like what?" she asked, wishing that it was nothing much.

Colin shifted around a little and ruffled his hair. "You said this morning that you would tell me later. It was about you and Ron arguing?"

Ginny suppressed the compulsion to yell.

"You see, what happened was that –"

A large creak resounded through the room in the still, thin air as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open.

And in walked Hermione, Harry, and Ron.

At first, the three did not notice the pair on the sofa, as they were so occupied with the contents of whatever was in the bag that Ron was holding uncomfortably in his arms. Ginny and Colin had not realized that the embers of the fire had died down considerably, until there were just a few glowing spots in the hearth, leaving the room fully suffused with the dark.

"Hold it properly, Ron! Or you'll drop it again," Hermione whispered harshly. Ron gave her a glare, but shifted the sack anyway. Harry was folding up a silvery, shiny cloth that had to be his Invisibility Cloak.

"Thank god that's over," Harry groaned, rubbing his neck with his free hand. Hermione and Ron nodded and walked toward the stairs. They had obviously just come back from doing something that they should not have. Colin turned his head to look at Ginny knowingly, and the action caught the three seventh-years' eyes.

"Who's there?" Harry asked quickly, pulling his wand out. Ron shifted with the bag some more and went for his wand as well. Hermione was right after.

"_Lumos_," she whispered.

Ron sagged with relief when he saw who it was and the bag clanked. But he tensed again when he realized that it was Ginny.

"Relax," Colin said, unaware of the mounting tension between the other four people in the room. "It's just us."

Ginny nodded, keeping her eyes on Ron. There was silence for a second before Ron spoke.

"What are you doing up so late?" he asked, trying to sound as if he was not suspicious.

"Maybe you could help," answered Colin blithely. "I was just asking Ginny –"

"About moonrod," Ginny said firmly, giving Colin a long look. "We were up late discussing Potions; Colin needed help on where to find moonrod – we have an essay you see. Twelve-and-a-half inches."

Ron looked a bit unconvinced, but Ginny innocently patted Colin's open book on the table.

"I can't remember where to find it either…and the book…well it hasn't really helped us," she said.

Harry walked toward Ginny and sat on the other side of her. He picked up the book and flipped through it.

"So you spent hours down here when you didn't know the answer anyway?"

Ginny felt like kicking something.

"Well, we do have an upcoming test – I think in a week or so; Snape hinted pretty strongly about one." She looked at Harry evenly.

"But you've hardly learned anything," he said squarely. "We're not even…what," he looked up at his friends, "a week into school yet?" Ron nodded.

Ginny took Colin's book away from Harry and held onto it. "You know how Snape is. Two days, two weeks – it's all the same to him. As long as we've done one potion he reasons that we can have a whole exam on it the next day. It's best to revise early before we get caught not knowing anything."

Hermione nodded. "I'm glad _you_ understand that, Ginny. I hope that attitude rubs off on your brother."

Ron shrugged, but now seemed to accept what Ginny said. "How studious of you."

Colin – who Ginny had forgotten about – sat up. "I told her the same thing this morning."

Ginny wanted to avoid that topic at all costs, so instead she commented,

"I just don't want to fall behind on anything. But that was actually yesterday morning, Colin. And so we'd better go to bed now." She stood up. Colin looked at Ginny as if he wanted to put up a fight and ask her what she was avoiding. But instead he looked at her, and then at Harry who was still sitting, and then at the other occupants of the room and rose.

"I guess I'll just have to give up on the moonrod, Gin. But just this time – I'll figure it out next time." Ginny knew that Colin was not referring to just Potions ingredients and hugged him.

"Good night, Colin." The blond smiled at Ginny, nodded at Ron and company, and putting his hands in his pockets, walked up the stairs. Ginny noted with a twinge of guilt that he was already in his pajamas – he must have decided to change while waiting.

When Colin was up the stairs, Ginny looked around her a bit nervously and rubbed the maroon braided edge of the sofa with the pads of her fingers.

"So what were you three up to on this busy night?"

Ron shifted with is load. Hermione looked at him and then at Harry.

"Nothing much," said Ron. The bag clanked.

Ginny smirked. "Right." She gradually advanced on Ron a tried to peer inside, but it was to no avail. The only glimpse she received of anything was of something shiny, like glass.

"Did you three steal something?" she asked unbelievably.

Hermione looked insulted. "Of course not!" Ron and Harry glanced at each other quickly, but Ginny noticed. She gave the two boys a long look.

Slowly Ron inclined his head. "Yes, we did. Actually, Hermione wasn't lying; she just stood by while we –"

"Ron!" Hermione protested; it seemed as though an argument was on the rise.

"Look, 'Mione, I know that it's embarrassing – you being Head Girl and all – but Ginny's not stupid. She wouldn't have believed any lie that we told her anyway." The brown haired girl looked at Ginny apologetically and then nodded.

Ginny grinned. "Your secret's safe with me."

Ron continued. "Anyway, Hermione just stood by while we took a few butterbeers from the kitchen."

Ginny looked surprised. "What are you planning to do with all of that exactly? Because it sounds like a lot more than a few."

At that question, Harry and Ron grinned maliciously at each other while Hermione appeared decidedly nervous.

"It's not for some prank, is it?" Ginny asked trying to steal another peek.

Ron dodged her and walked to the stairs.

"Not telling," he said aloofly.

"But it promises to be interesting," Harry included.

"And _dangerous_," Hermione stated, glaring at Harry.

Ginny shook her head. "It must be some prank if you're willing to risk being caught, Ms. Head Girl," Ginny said to Hermione.

Hermione stood still, her eyes avoiding Ginny's, "Oh, I guess so…"

The four of them stood for a bit longer.

"Well," said Ron, "I guess we'll be turning in, if that's all the excitement for now." He began to walk up the stairs and Hermione met him. They kissed briefly, but tenderly and Hermione whispered a soft goodnight. Ron was pleasantly red. Then she took the bag and was gone. Harry looked awkwardly at Ginny and then tentatively hugged her goodnight. Bidding Ron goodnight he took leave as well.

"See you in a minute," he said to Ron walking up the stairs, his footsteps thumping softly on the carpet.

Ron turned to Ginny. "And then there were two." Ginny smirked.

"Duh dun dun."

There was a stilted silence.

"So I suppose you're not going to tell me what's _really_ in the bag –"

"So you're not going to tell me why you were _really_ down here –"

"- are you?" they said together. Both shook their heads. The two siblings grinned slightly at each other, though it didn't quite reach either of their eyes.

"Goodnight, Gin."

* * *

"It'll work better if you hold your wrist _this_ way. Right."

Ginny held her hand at an awkward angle as she fired off another hex at Colin. Professor Packard watched Ginny for a second longer before continuing her survey of the class. It was still early in the year, but Packard had already started the class on practical work. She was a quiet woman for the most part, probably in her mid-forties who had begun graying. She had a strict hold over her class, but was patient enough and seemed to know what she was talking about. It seemed to most that Packard would be the best option for the following year, if she hadn't already informed Dumbledore that she was not going to be returning. Her references stated that she had been an auror for twenty years, but that she had decided to resign from field work due to her age. In this Ministry, she instructed new recruits on war tactics and strategies and the like, but she wanted to try her hand at instructing a younger group in defense.

Ginny admitted to herself that she might understand the more technical aspects of the wand work that day if her mind were not completely on another level.

"Hey! You!"

Ginny's head snapped forward. "Huh?"

"Are you abandoning me again?" Colin said, twirling his wand.

Ginny frowned. "I thought that we went over that. I'm –"

"Because it really damaged my image, Ginny."

"Oh, shut it."

"Oh, pay attention," Colin retorted; the wand spinning stopped. "_Inverto_!"

"_Protego_!" Ginny cried, not a moment too soon. Her shield gleamed brightly for a moment, and then faded as Colin's curse faded as well.

Colin nodded. "Acceptable, I guess. Otherwise you would have found yourself not knowing which way was up, though you don't seem like you do right now."

Before Ginny could reply, Professor Packard cleared her throat. "For homework: a half-roll of parchment on the advantages and disadvantages of this hex. Class dismissed."

Colin and Ginny exited the room amidst the various grumblings that always came when homework was announced.

"So are you going to help me tonight?" Colin asked as they were walking to Potions.

Ginny nodded emphatically and rubbed her arms when the crowd of traveling students lessened to a minor few. The closer they got to the dungeons, the colder it became, and her robes were pretty thin.

"Is nine o'clock okay?"

Colin grinned. "Why the hurry? In a rush to get to your Hufflepuff boyfriend?"

"_No_."

They waited outside of the room.

"And even if I was, who said that he would be in Hufflepuff?"

"Well," Colin reasoned, "If he was in Gryffindor, then it would be too easy for your brother to harass him, so you wouldn't date inside of your house. I figure that you're pretty much finished with Ravenclaw men if they're all as 'open-minded' as Corner. Hufflepuff is loyal, and steadfast, or whatever the Sorting Hat says."

"And…and…Slytherin?"

Colin snorted. "I never knew you were a comedian, Ginny."

The door swung open as the dismal seventh-year class exited. Crabbe and Goyle shuffled out, seemingly in their own world followed by a few others Slytherins.

Ginny rocked back and forth on her heels distractedly. Then she smiled at Ron and Harry who left the room in a temper – as always.

"I told you that getting angry will only make it worse, Ron!"

"Are you trying to justify what he did, Hermione? Since when does _breathing_ too close to a cauldron create an explosion?"

Neville trudged out, looking embarrassed and dejected.

"What's wrong?" asked Ginny.

He shrugged sadly. "My cauldron blew up again."

"It's not your fault, Neville," argued Hermione. "I'm sure that you would've gotten it right this time."

"If Snape hadn't been breathing down your neck!" Harry said angrily.

"That slimy excuse for a Potions teacher took thirty points from Gryffindor – and the mess didn't even hit anyone this time!" Ron shouted.

Neville shook his head and looked at Ginny and Colin. "He said that 'the toxic fumes which robbed my brain of any knowledge, seeped out through-'"

"'- His mouth; creating a dangerous reactant with the potion.'! What a load of crap!"

"I don't think so, Weasley. The truth does tend to be an ugly thing."

Draco leaned in the doorway looking so entertained that it made the situation all the more unbearable.

Ron turned angrily. "Shut your trap, Malfoy!"

He smirked. "What do you think, Weasley? – The younger one, I mean," he said turning to Ginny. "Do you think I'm out of line?"

Ginny had been trying to studiously ignore Draco when she saw him come out of the room. The irrational part of her thought imagined that if she even dared to steal a glance at him, lights would go off somewhere reading: '_She_ fraternized with the Enemy! Fraternized!'

Now, she looked at him as much as she dared to, although it was not directly in his eyes. She didn't want to start an argument with him in front of everyone when she would have to face him later, but it was out of the question to not defend Neville.

But she was not given the chance.

"Do you have a death wish, Ferret? Don't talk to my sister!"

Draco held his hands up in defense, although he was clearly unruffled. Passing by Ginny who, who was in the middle of the war, he let his arms drop, knocking all of her books onto the floor.

From up ahead, Crabbe and Goyle turned around and looked suspiciously at the clatter that had sounded. They eyed Draco's handiwork, laughed thickly, and continued on their way.

"Oh. My apologies, Weasel Princess." Draco kneeled down to pick up Ginny's Transfiguration book – Ron stepped in like a whip.

"Don't touch any of her things!"

Ginny's face burned as Draco eyed her with cynical amusement.

"It must be nice to have Big Brother look out for wicked Mr. Malfoy."

"Very," Ginny muttered, snatching her book away, feeling exactly the opposite. It was amazing the way Ron made her feel like five-year-old, even when he was trying to help her. "Go to your class, Ron."

"Ginny…"

"She's fine, Ron," Harry contested.

"This gets very old after awhile," Draco remarked, pushing past Colin and putting his hands in his pockets. Strutting down the hall as if he owned it, Draco left the agitated bunch behind.

Ron's fists clenched. "One of these days he'll get what's coming to him."

"I wouldn't mind being a part of that," added Harry. "But in the meantime we have class."

The three of them began walking away, Ron plotting revenge on his enemy with an amused looking Harry and an annoyed Hermione next to him.

"Don't worry, Neville," Ginny said, turning to her friend. He looked like he was churning with guilt.

"You didn't start this argument, you know," said Colin. "Malfoy was here, Ron was there…of course they were going to snipe at each other."

Neville shook his head quickly. "I know, I know…" He walked off to Herbology.

Ginny watched him sympathetically and wondered if Neville had problems outside of dealing with Snape. Even after he had invited her to the Yule Ball in her third year, the two didn't really speak much until her fourth year. Ginny had a mild interest in Herbology, and hoping to convert her into an avid herbologist like himself, he talked to her more and more. Herbology had opened Neville up to Ginny in more ways than she thought possible, and she began to view him as a much stronger person than he himself knew. Especially after he confided what had happened to his parents to her in her fifth year. Admittedly, she knew that there was more to his parents' story then he let on after overhearing Ron and Harry whispering over the summer, but she had no grasp of the magnanimity of what the Longbottoms had experienced – and were still experiencing – until she heard it from his own mouth.

Ginny yearned to ask Neville why he had been so far from Gryffindor Tower the previous night, but that would raise unpleasant questions about her own whereabouts as well. She would just have to wait.

"That was about the only thing Malfoy has ever been right about, Ginny," said Colin, walking in the room.

"What's that?" Ginny asked; mind still on Neville.

"The whole…'watch out for me, I'm evil thing'; it's getting old. I mean, he sees that you won't say anything -"

"Well, I didn't hear _you_ saying any of that when it actually mattered, Colin," Ginny said, frowning.

Colin's eyebrows rose.

"This time I'm not apologizing! How do you know that I wouldn't have said anything when Ron cut me off before I even had a chance to _breathe_?"

"Because, Ginny, you hardly ever do."

"I-"

"Miss Weasley," said Snape, as if he were swallowing a skrewt, "I do believe that I told the class to read the instructions on the board, not discuss the agenda of the Harry Potter fan club with Mr. Creevey. Five points from Gryffindor."

There were some scattered snickers.

"Yes, sir," Ginny said stiffly, taking her seat. Another day in Potions.

How exciting.

* * *

Ginny plopped down into the closest space that she could find, Colin followed suit. Ginny searched for Neville momentarily, but he was not there. She settled for saving him a space.

"I hope he isn't hiding away because of what happened in his class," Ginny said taking a roll off of a tray in the middle of the table.

"I don't think he would be," Colin replied, following suit. "At best, he's just poking around the Greenhouse, checking on the plants with Sprout."

"You mean at worst."

Colin shrugged. "I agree with you that he shouldn't feel the need to banish himself from the rest of the world because of a mistake. But if doing what he likes makes him feel better, then why not?"

"It's still unfair."

"Of course it is!" Ron declared, nosing in. "And if I didn't know any better, the way Malfoy was so smug about it, he had something to do with the explosion."

Harry snorted. "When isn't Malfoy smug?"

Ginny silently agreed.

"Well, I get the feeling that we needn't worry about him so much now," said Hermione. "He seems to be too wrapped up in his own world to do anything much." Ginny knew about that all too well. "Today was only the first day that he really bothered us at all."

"Because Crabbe and Goyle have finally grown brains and ditched him," said Ron disparagingly.

Harry grinned. "That seems too far-fetched to me. More likely Malfoy was tired of having extra shadows. With his family being inspected so closely, it's also likely that he didn't want to run the risk of his goons spilling his secrets."

Listening closely to the conversation which had rapidly turned from concern over Neville to Draco's secrets, Ginny couldn't help but disagree with some of what Harry said.

"I doubt that Malfoy would have told Crabbe or Goyle anything in the _first_ place if there was such a high risk of it being leaked."

Hermione nodded.

"It could be that Crabbe and Goyle's _own_ fathers didn't want any aurors suspecting them of being involved with Lucius Malfoy, so they were told to keep clear of Draco Malfoy."

Ron looked disgusted. "There isn't even any honor among thieves."

"Would you rather that they all banded together, then, and formed an alliance to spoil the name of good wizards and kill Muggles?" Ginny asked. "At least divided they don't have the protection of the other families to back them."

"True," said Harry, nodding reluctantly. "All the same, I'm unwilling to believe that all ties between the Dark Families are completely severed. As stupid as Crabbe and Goyle are we should still to look out for them."

Ginny jumped on that comment. "This is exactly why I should help you."

"The answer is still _no_," Ron denied.

Ginny tossed him a dirty look. "I _do_ know what I'm talking about-"

"That's all well and good," said Harry, looking at Ginny in a way that she couldn't help notice was patronizing, "but saying and doing are two different things."

Ginny sat up indignantly. "I'm not a first-year, _big-brother_," she retorted.

Harry flushed. "You know what I mean."

"I really don't think I do."

"Then you're not as good at thinking as you thought you were, are you?"

Ginny's fists clenched, as Ron looked on nervously, his fingers twiddling around at the edge of the table. But he said nothing.

Colin looked back and forth between Harry and Ginny and finally decided on speaking up in Ginny's defense. However, Ginny stood from the table and silenced her friend with her hand, barely restraining herself from throwing a pitcher of pumpkin juice at the black-haired boy.

"Go on with your plans then – I've got my own. But if the only hope for Mr. Tinelle is to be found from a self-righteous, egotistical prat like you, I'd better go owl Mum for permission to visit him in Azkaban."

"Ooh…" whispered Hermione, peeking apprehensively at Harry.

The silence around them was so thick that Colin couldn't have cut it with a machete. He had never been up close when Harry had been in one of his rages, but since his fourth-year they had become notorious. No one wanted to be a part of them, but as no one had the heart to blame Harry for feeling the way he did, no one chastised him. No one except for Hermione, that was. However, Hermione was not feeling very outspoken at the moment, and Colin did not feel as if he knew Harry well enough to tell him to mind what he said.

"Maybe we should go…" Colin suggested quietly to Ginny.

But she didn't move right away. Instead her eyes stared at the top of her brother's head. Ron's head was bent low over his plate, the tip of his fork scraping around the surface of it, although he was clearly not eating.

Not being able to bear the scene anymore, Ginny whisked herself away, pulling her robes out of Colin's grasp when he tried to hold onto her. A few students looked up at Ginny when she went off, but they all shrugged and resumed their own conversations.

Ron tried to ignore the thudding sensation in his chest that told him he should have said something – anything. Not necessarily to take sides, but to head off the argument before it turned nasty. But a louder voice inside of him told him that it was just beginning-of-the-year nerves that Ginny was suffering from.

'She always liked being home better anyway; she just needs to get readjusted,' he said to himself. 'That's all.'

* * *

"I can't _stand_ him!"

"Ginny, please calm down!"

"Leave me alone, Colin."

"Ginny –"

"Please!"

Ginny turned to face her best friend, her body screaming with frustration. Her eyes locked with his momentarily only to look away when she saw the hurt in his.

"Maybe if you just…talked about it with me, you'd feel better," he said.

"The last thing I want to do is talk, Colin."

"What does throwing a fit accomplish, Ginny?"

Looking at Colin frostily, Ginny turned away from him and walked away. Is that what everyone thought she was doing? Having another tantrum?

"Let's just let it alone. You wanted to do that just now, didn't you Colin? Because you kept your mouth _shut_ in there."

"I didn't want you to start saying things that you didn't mean!"

Ginny looked at Colin with a steady gaze. "I meant every single word that I spoke. And more that I didn't."

"No, you were picking a fight."

"Was I?!"

Just at that moment, Ginny saw Draco walking from behind Colin and groaned inwardly. She hoped he would go on his way without starting something, and he did. However, he made very sure to give her a scathing glare before he walked by her. Colin looked at Draco suspiciously behind the blond-haired boy's back, but then turned his attention back to Ginny.

"What is this all about, Ginny?" he asked.

"All _what_, Colin?"

He gesticulated vaguely. "All this…this…smoke and mirrors nonsense. Are you planning on going on another one of your older brother's adventures?"

"No," Ginny spat, walking away. "Ron's the tagalong, not me."

Ginny stomped off to her room, leaving Colin behind. She couldn't trust herself to be nice to him at that moment. She knew he was hurt, but frankly, she was not feeling very charitable at that moment, and if he followed her, she would be an even worse friend than she was being already.

After getting another dirty look from the Fat Lady (who was still uptight at the way Ginny addressed her the night before) Ginny ran up to her room, slammed the door, and threw the hangings around her bed shut.

The year was turning out to be a disaster so soon, and she didn't know what she could do to change it.

Ginny had always fervently promised herself that no matter what happened, whether she garnered the attention of the Trio or not, she would always remember that her friends came first. But she had at least hoped for support from them. Colin didn't realize how much she wanted to change, how desperately she felt she _needed_ to change, and was loath to defend her in front of his long-time idol, the Great Potter. Ron had ignored her ever since he saw Harry at the Hogwarts Express. And only God knew where Neville was off to!

Getting the necessary books that she needed for her next class and discarding the ones that she did not, Ginny almost wept with joy to think that she didn't have class with Slytherin. Care of Magical creatures was with Ravenclaw, whom she did not mind so much, as long as they kept their superiority complex to a minimum.

Throwing her Transfiguration book aside, Ginny halted in her furious activities when she saw something falling out of it. It was a small piece of parchment.

_Meet me you know where at lunch. **Don't. Be. Late**._

_M._

"Oh, wonderful…" Ginny muttered, looking at the paper.

She remembered when Draco had picked up her Transfiguration book and handed it to her. And how uncharacteristically soon he had left afterwards. He must have slipped it inside of the notebook and then left. Ginny admitted that he was very good at doing that.

'That was why he gave me such a nasty look just now,' she thought. 'Well there's nothing I can do about it now; he'll just have to deal with it.' Ginny wondered how she would schedule another meeting with Draco when she dared not stop him in the halls. She pondered how suspicious it would be to anyone if she sent him a letter using a school owl…

Ginny was far from feeling guilty about it though. She reasoned that after all of what he had put her through over the years, meeting him late now and then was fairly trivial. Especially after the way he had deserted her the night before. Her anger had left her too distracted that morning in class to notice what she was doing half the time; which is why she was so grateful that Professor Packard was so patient. Ginny wondered if she had been in Gryffindor – assuming that she had gone to Hogwarts. She seemed stern enough and fair enough, certainly. _Definitely_ more charitable than Snape had been concerning Ginny's absentmindedness.

While being on Mr. Tinelle's case had perks – it was almost fun for one thing – Ginny would be glad when it was over and she could return to her normal life: friends with Colin, and hopefully more respect from Ron and Harry.

* * *

"Hey, Luna," Ginny said, falling in step with the blonde girl ahead of her.

Blocking the overhead glare with her arm, Ginny walked heavily down the hill to Hagrid's hut. Colin walked ahead of Ginny with some other people in their year. She could see his _Monster Book of Monsters_ wedged securely under his arm and realized that he had to have come inside of the Tower and changed books without her noticing.

Luna turned her head to acknowledge Ginny.

"Hello, Ginny," she greeted neutrally.

Luna had been walking by herself, lagging behind the rest of the groups of students heading down to their class area. Her eyes were bright as usual, and her own _Monster_ _Book_ was tied securely with…with…

"Is that a Sour-Apple Extreme Licorice Lick?" Ginny asked abruptly.

Luna looked at Ginny blithely. "Yes it is, Ginny."

"Well, erm…why?"

Luna gave Ginny a wide-eyed look. "Because there was no more Grape."

Ginny raised her arm to push her hair out of her face – really; she wanted to hide her rapidly forming grin. But Luna still held her intent gaze on Ginny, and something inside of it told Ginny that Luna might not have cared if she did laugh.

"Aren't you afraid that the book will eat through it?"

Luna shook her head; the mini-radishes in her ears shook along with her. "Father put Thickening and Engorgement Charms all over it."

Ginny smiled. "I hope the book enjoys it."

"Oh, it does, it does," Luna assured her. "Books enjoy sweets too. What are you sick with?"

"Excuse me?" Ginny asked. Luna always had a discerning way of switching topics unexpectedly; it had always made Ginny feel as if she were too slow to keep up a conversation with her.

"You and Colin Creevey are unexpectedly far apart when you always walk down together. That's what you did last year. But he is not walking with you now. Is he afraid that you might give him what you're sick with?"

Ginny shook her head a bit unhappily. "No…I'm not sick…"

Luna blinked. "You should not be arguing, if you are. It's a waste of time that could be better spent looking for more important things like Silver-Horned Smurkles – my father told me that. We had a row once, while looking for Silver-Horned Smurkles, and he told me that it was a waste of time; because while we were arguing, they all went into their holes, and we did not catch any all that day. You should tell Colin that."

Ginny was about to protest that it was not that simple, but then she turned the idea over in her mind. Her row with Colin had seemed an immense problem that could not be solved by anything other than more arguing, so Ginny shied away from making up with him. But Luna was mature enough, had enough outside perspective (and, Ginny had to admit, was strange enough) to simplify it. There really was no point in staying angry with each other.

"Thanks, Luna," she said honestly. "Your father's right." Luna nodded fervently.

"I know."

Ginny grinned. "So how is the newspaper going?"

By then they had reached Hagrid's hut, so Luna's response was deterred until the jovial half-giant explained what they would be doing.

No one, _no one_ wanted to miss Hagrid's instructions, as that might result in a possibly fatal accident.

Waving a large hand at Ginny, Hagrid began his explanation.

"Today we'll start workin' with Grapplesnares." He placed a large wooden crate on top of a workshop table and took the covering off. Ginny did not see anything and hoped desperately that they were not invisible, like thestrals, unless something disastrous happened – then she saw a tiny tendril poking over the side of the box. It wiggled a bit and then continued to creep over the edge.

"Grapplesnares," Hagrid began, "are relatives of devilsnare. Some kind of cousin I think, exceptin' the fact that they love sun, n' thrive in it. Over the next few weeks, yer goin' to learn how to take care of 'em and raise 'em from the egg-"

"Egg?" a Ravenclaw asked. "You made it sound like they were plants."

"Well, if they were plants, then you'd be learnin' abou' them in 'Erbology, wouldn' yer?" Hagrid asked smiling.

"They look like plants," the boy said stubbornly.

Hagrid put his hand in the box and a straggly arm attached itself to one of his beefy fingers. Fully out of the box, the creature looked even more like a plant. It was green, a bit fuzzy, but it looked like there were a few tiny leaves on it. But…were those eyes?

"See, that's the interestin' thing abou' them! As relatives of a plant species, they do have some characteristics of plants. But if yeh look a bit closer," Hagrid went through the cluster of students and showed them his finger, "yeh can see that they've tiny, little eyes. The biggest difference is tha' despite the leaves they grow on the crown of their 'eads, their mothers produce tiny little eggs that look like seeds. The seeds are buried under damp soil, and then they 'atch. That's what makes 'em like animals."

Ginny began to understand a little, although she still questioned what species it belonged to. After the explanation, the students separated into groups of two or three – Ginny paired with Luna – and took turns sketching the animals while the other practiced holding it. The little animals liked to curl around the fingers of people and squeeze gently on them. Hagrid had given them strict instructions to let them do it, as it would not hurt very much. Much like babies tend to squeeze the fingers of whoever holds them, the newborn Grapplesnares did the same.

"What's so dangerous about them?" Ginny asked Hagrid; holding a Grapplesnare while Luna scribbled a picture of it.

"What makes yer think they're dangerous?" Hagrid replied.

"Just the fact that _everything_ in this class is," said Jonathon Iggs, with a scornful smile on his face. Michael Corner laughed a bit as well, until Ginny sent a glare his way; then he went back to drawing.

"Like any animal, yeh have to treat 'em with kindness," said Hagrid blithely. "But when they grow up they might give yeh a bit of a run fur yer money, they will. A bit like devilsnare, if they feel threatened, they wrap their arms aroun' their enemy – the arms are much longer when they're grown – and they might choke 'em a bit."

"A bit!" Jonathon scoffed. Hagrid appeared not to have heard him.

"What do they eat?" Luna asked interestedly.

"Nothing when they're this young; they make their food from the sun – somethin' called photosynthesis. Muggles study it in more detail, but all of yeh won't have to. When they're older they like roots and things; sometimes very small seeds for the extra nutrients. But that's all in yer books! Read the four chapters on Grapplesnares fur homework. Put 'em back carefully! Carefully!"

Class was over, and Ginny went over to the crate and pushed the fuzzy-animal-vine-like creature off her finger gently. Picking up her books, she waved goodbye to Hagrid and walked back up the hill with Luna. Unfortunately, Care of Magical Creatures was the only class with Ravenclaw, so Ginny would be partnerless unless she and Colin came to a quick truce.

She and Colin were awkward with each other for the rest of the day. The only conversations that they managed were stilted ones during classes; and this was only because they had paired themselves up together and did not want to bother with the discomfort switching partners would bring.

In the half an hour before dinner that Ginny usually spent chatting with Colin about anything, she chose to begin her essay. Setting her books down on a mahogany table that she liked to write at she watched as Colin went slowly up his side of the stairs.

"Colin!" she called without realizing it.

He turned around so quickly that she was half afraid he might fall, but she did not smile at him. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to.

"Are you coming back down?"

He gave her an odd look.

"Erm…yes. I have to go to dinner."

Ginny grimaced inwardly. Right. Of course."

"I meant _before_ you went down to dinner. To start Potions; I think I'll need your help just as much as you say you need mine."

He shrugged a little exaggeratedly. "Sure. I don't see why not." Instead of going way up, he turned around and walked over to where Ginny was sitting.

Ginny took out her Potions book and snuck Colin a few anxious glances. Colin had already taken his parchment out and a quill and was studiously ignoring her. He wrote his name on the top of his paper.

"So…what's the essay on?" Ginny asked.

Colin gave her a blank look. "Moonstone."

Ginny's eyes widened. "I was right! Wow, I completely guessed when I told Ron that…"

Colin's eyes narrowed. "I thought you had been working on it."

Ginny blanched. "I meant…Fine, Colin; I lied."

"Surprise, surprise."

"Do you know what Luna told me?" Ginny asked Colin.

He dipped his quill in ink. "No, I don't think I do."

Ginny sat up. "She told me that she and her father had been looking for Silver-Horned Smurkles " - Ginny smiled a little when she saw Colin avoiding her eyes so that she would not see his own – "and that they had been arguing, so they didn't catch any. So it was a waste of time being angry with each other. Do you know what I mean?"

Colin gave Ginny a long look. "I'll make sure not to have a row with Luna's father when we're out looking for imaginary creatures, Ginny."

"That's not – oh, shut it," Ginny said, grinning. Colin was smirking. She held out her hand. "Friends?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No. Now help me with this essay that I 'started on'."

They worked companionably for about twenty-five minutes, and then it was time to go; without realizing it, they had run into dinner.

"Are we going to work on it some more after dinner?" asked Colin.

Ginny opened up the portrait. She wanted to see if she could corner Draco somewhere and get him to meet her in the secret staff room so that he could tell her what he was going to during lunch. But she needed to finish up the essay, and she and Colin had only just made up.

"Yup."

She could find Draco later.

* * *

When Colin and Ginny entered the Great Hall, Ron, Harry and Hermione were just leaving.

Ron failed miserably in acting as if he did not know Ginny was there, and felt compelled to give her a quick, "Hey, Gin." Hermione only smiled at her, and Harry was so good at pretending that Ginny was not there, that Ginny almost had to convince herself that she was.

Ginny looked quickly at the Slytherin table and only saw a big mop of brown hair. Sitting down, she looked until the head moved; it was Pansy Parkinson with her face questionably in front of Draco's. When the view was clear, she smirked at Draco when he saw her looking. He did was give her a repeat performance of the glare he gave her before.

Looking around surreptitiously, Ginny mouthed, "Later" to the irate Slytherin.

All Draco did was look away, but Ginny thought annoyed, that if he chose not to show, it was his own problem. Realizing suddenly that she was famished because she had not eaten much lunch, Ginny began eating.

"Feeling better, Neville?" she asked the boy next to her.

He smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, I was just in a rotten mood this morning."

"But Malfoy didn't help any," said Colin.

Someone further down screeched and a goblet of pumpkin juice clattered on the floor.

"It's just Mavis," a dark-haired girl in Ginny's class assured when she saw the alarmed faces around her. "She knocked over her goblet and it fell on Lavender Brown's lap."

Ginny, Neville, and Colin nodded.

"Anyway," Neville continued, "whatever Malfoy said to me was more than made up for in Defense today."

"How so?" Ginny asked.

Neville grinned wickedly; Ginny had to admit that it looked rather sinister on his usual soft-featured face. "Packard _hates_ him – it's wonderful!"

"She hates him?"

"Yeah, it's so obvious. He pretty much keeps his mouth shut in that class now, because whenever he makes a comment, she really takes the mickey out of him." Neville looked gleeful, and then thoughtful. "As a matter of fact, he tried to say something nasty about _you_ today, Ginny."

"About Ginny?" Colin asked.

Neville nodded. "Mmhm. Ron was going to start in on him, but then Packard told Ron to calm down. Then she told Malfoy that you were a fine student." Ginny blushed; she had not been a fine student that day. "And that if his family was only half as quick with their wands as they were with their mouths that his father wouldn't have ended up in Azkaban two years ago!"

Ginny and Colin gaped.

"She _said_ that?!" Ginny whispered, as if Lucius were hiding nearby.

Neville nodded so quickly that his cowlick fell into his eyes.

"She did! I couldn't believe it myself!"

"That's pretty harsh," Ginny said.

Neville scowled. "It's nothing more than he deserves."

Ginny did not say anything; she did not have any evidence to refute that.

"Do you think she'll get into trouble for that?" Colin asked.

Neville looked as if he wondered the same thing.

"I don't think she will," Ginny told them. "Even though Malfoy's father got released on some technicality or another, he's not a school-board governor anymore. The most he can do is write in a complaint or two – and that's not much. I mean, look at all the nasty things Snape's said to my family over the years. He could probably start an anthology from the complaints that Mum's sent to Dumbledore. And Snape isn't going anywhere soon."

"True," Colin said. "And Defense teachers are hard to come by. It's not as if she's abusing Malfoy."

"I wouldn't be impartial to _that_!" exclaimed Neville.

Ginny laughed and tried not to choke on the bread she was eating.

'So Professor Packard hates Malfoy,' she thought. 'It's probably because she's an ex-auror.'

"Speaking of Snape," Colin piped up, "How is N.E.W.T. revision going?"

Neville looked so dismal that Colin apologized for bringing it up.

"He's giving us so much work that I think he's hoping some of us will quit school so he won't have to prepare so many exams."

"That's terrible," Ginny said; Colin nodded.

"Now I don't feel half as upset over the essay we've got."

"Well, sixth-year isn't a picnic either – but it isn't terrible. It seems like sort of a jump in the beginning, but it's not really that bad later on."

The talked for a while longer, and then the tables began to empty up as people went to their respective houses. When a large group from the Ravenclaw table rose and left the Great Hall, Neville got up also and said that he was going to go do his homework. Ginny and Colin decided that they should do the same and followed.

Deciding that they were going to put off the essay until the rest of the homework was finished they began asking Neville questions about their Care of Magical Creatures class that day.

"But Neville, how can something be half-plant, half-animal? They function differently."

"Don't think about it in classifications so much. Remember the Mandrakes? Those were sort of half-and-half as well."

Keeping that in mind, Ginny and Colin processed more of what their reading was than they might have before.

Two and a half hours later, Ginny and Colin heaved big sighs and put their quills down.

"I think we've still got a conclusion to finish up on the essay," Colin said.

Ginny grunted.

"Do we have a Transfiguration essay?" he asked.

"No, not yet," Ginny said. "But there's definitely one coming up soon. Have we finished everything?"

"I still have to do Divination, but I saved it for later because when I'm near exhaustion, I enter this trance-like state…"

"Delirium?"

"_No_...Well, maybe yes. But I'm much more creative then. Much more creative than it takes to do Arithmantic equations."

"You weren't creative enough to get more than an A on your O.W.L.," Ginny shot back.

"What did you get in Arithmancy, again?"

"An E," Ginny said smugly.

"Fine, fine. If you're so clever, help me think of some new ways to die."

"In a second, I need to figure this answer out," Ginny said, flipping back and forth between her parchment and the Arithmancy book. She scribbled a quick answer down and then told Colin that he would die from his bed swallowing him whole.

"Thanks."

When it was around 11:00, Colin decided that he was through and packed his bag.

"Are you heading up, Ginny?"

She was busy packing her own things. "Er…no…I was planning on taking a walk, actually."

Colin was not fooled. "At 11:00? Tell me that you're going on some stupid adventure to get yourself killed, that you wanted to snog your secret boyfriend, that you were going to teepee Snape's office with toilet paper, but not some feeble lie."

Ginny grinned. "I'm going to teepee Snape's office, Colin."

He smiled and turned around. "Have fun," he said walking up the stairs.

"I will," Ginny told him, and put her bag on the couch.

With that, she headed off to pay Draco Malfoy a visit.

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks to my beta Tristan2 for editing everything and taking the time to read through it, even if we're busy; I really appreciate it. Also, thanks to all of you who have reviewed. It is food for my soul!

-Femme


	6. Six

_Miss Cellophane_

With that, she headed off to pay Draco Malfoy a visit.

It was much easier for Ginny to find the right staircase this time.

Briskly walking by Sir Cadogan's portrait –fortunately he was away- Ginny came to the long corridor. The room was at the end of it; the door was on the left side. Unlike the other times, there was no fire casting an orange glow against the opposite wall.

'He's not there yet,' Ginny thought.

She shivered as she crept into the cold room. She wondered how Ravenclaw did not mind the darkness of their part of the castle and absently lit the fire.

"Took you long enough."

Suppressing a screech, Ginny jumped felt her heart leap out of her chest as if the ceiling was suddenly a magnet. 

"Are you _insane_?" she asked shakily. "My _god_…"

"Feeling a bit jumpy?"

Ginny stared at Draco with a withering look worthy of McGonagall.

"How much oxygen were you denied that you would pull a stunt like that?"

She put her arm on the side of the chair closest to her.

"The same oxygen you were deprived of when you skipped our meeting at lunch," he said nastily.

"I didn't skip," Ginny snapped. She sank into her chair and closed her eyes. "I didn't find the note until a few hours ago."

"Brilliant," he muttered.

"Sure! Just as brilliant as you putting a note in a book that you weren't sure I was going to look in."

Neither said anything for a full ten minutes; they simply satisfied themselves by glaring full force at the other.

"Would you stop looking at me like that and tell me what was so important?" Ginny said.

"I wanted to know what your plans were for getting the restricted book."

Ginny shrugged. "Go there late at night, and sneak it out."

Draco laughed derisively. "Just when I thought you couldn't get any stupider…"

"I started hanging around _you_."

"You've been around worse, Weasley; and at a younger age to boot."

Ginny's eyes flashed angrily. "Speaking of boots, what flavor is the bottom of your father's? I hear the dirt in Azkaban tastes like chocolate."

Draco went white.

"Oh, what's the matter, Malfoy? Packard got your tongue?"

"_Don't mention that name near me._" Draco said chillingly calm, standing over Ginny. The bluish veins in his neck became slightly visible with his obvious effort to contain his temper.

Ginny was unsympathetic. It was a bad idea to take her anger out on him – on anyone – but he had set himself up for an insult. It was an opening that Ron would definitely take.

"Understandable," she murmured complacently. "With the mess that your father's landed your family in, hearing an auror's name would make me shudder as well."

If it was possible, Draco went even paler.

He gazed at Ginny with rage in his eyes, but Ginny could see among the flickers of firelight that were reflected there, the beginning traces of confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, suddenly quiet.

Ginny eyed him suspiciously. "Don't pretend that you don't know," she goaded.

"Cut the crap and just tell me why you think she's an auror!"

"My father told me," Ginny admitted, internally surprised that the Slytherin didn't know that already. "I wrote home about her, because I always talk about the new teacher who takes the Defense spot. And my father told me that she worked as an auror for about twenty years. Then she decided to teach auror techniques to trainees. Now she's a Defense teacher."

Draco looked at Ginny intently as if he were measuring what she said: was it the truth? Was it a lie? He looked away suddenly and began to pace.

"What…what's the problem?" Ginny asked curiously. She felt a rush of glee knowing that she held something over his head.

Draco ran a stiff hand through his hair repeatedly. Ginny noticed that every time he did, it only fell back into his face. It seemed a ridiculous thing to do, Ginny thought; but from the look on his face, he needed the distraction.

"It's just like you said, Weasley," he spat. "It's not good for _her_ to be here…around me, when things are so…_strained_ right now."

Ginny suppressed a snort. 'Strained? That's putting it lightly.'

"It's your father's fault for getting you into this mess," Ginny told him with a superior look in her eye.

Draco turned to face her. "I didn't hear all of this mouth from you this afternoon when Potter was rubbing your nose in the ground like a naughty puppy."

Ginny flushed and quickly fell down from her euphoric state. "You heard that?"

Draco smirked, looking the tiniest bit relieved that the fire was off of him for the moment. "'_Oh, Potter you prat_!'" he mimicked falsely. "Most of the bloody Great Hall heard it. It's just that no one cares. At least not about you."

Ginny thought about how Ron had remained silent while Harry patronized her.

"You didn't hear all of what happened. Don't pretend to have," she said fiercely, looking away.

"Then stop trying to act as if your family is so much better than mine. 'We're the sodding Weasleys,' " he imitated, "'Poor as dirt, but hearts as rich as gold. And we all love each other as well!' Give me a goddamn break. Your brother doesn't care for you any more than my father cares for me; it's all business."

"That's not true!"

Draco gave Ginny a long, disgusted look. "Just you wait and see."

"I won't listen to this," Ginny said walking to the door.

Draco strode to where Ginny was in long strides and grabbed her by the arm. "Yes, you will," he said in a low, dangerous voice.

"You can't make me."

"I won't have to; you made a promise to me last night. A Wizards Promise – did you forget that already?"

His grip on her increased in pressure. Not to the point of her being hurt, but just enough so that she would have to work at tugging her arm away.

"I didn't forget," Ginny said quietly. "I'm just regretting it already."

"Aw, that's too bad."

Draco's hand was still holding Ginny, and he kept a steady searing gaze on her, as if he wanted to burn the memory of what she had promised to him the night before in the front of her retinas. Ginny didn't know how long they stood in that same pose, unmoving, their bodies almost touching, but slowly, she began to realize something.

"You need me, don't you," she asked him, though it was very clearly a statement.

Draco's grip lessened until he let go of her fully. He went to collapse into a chair.

"I told you that already," he said, not admitting anything.

Ginny walked over to where he sat tiredly, and crouched until their faces were on the same level.

"But more than you thought you did before. You need the resources that I have. Don't try and tell me I have nothing!" Ginny said when Draco began to open his mouth.

"Fine," he disclosed. "I don't know why my father didn't tell me who that woman was, but there has to be a good reason. You have to…"

Ginny's eyes narrowed wickedly. Draco's did the same.

"I _need_ you to keep doing things like that…telling me things – getting information."

Ginny was affronted. "I won't spy for you, Malfoy."

"That's not what I'm asking," he snapped. "Just…just go along with what I'm saying for now." Ginny was hesitant. "That's all I can give you."

Ginny looked at him intently. "So you'll tell me what I need to know, if I tell you what you need?"

Draco nodded slowly.

"Alright," Ginny agreed. She continued to look at the boy in front of her. "Truce?" she said quietly.

Draco glanced at her hand and then back at her face.

"If we have to do this every night, it's going to lose its meaning." 

"Better that then rip each other's heads off."

"I'm not so sure…"

Ginny ignored him. "What did you have in mind concerning me getting the book?"

He looked at her haughtily. "A plan much better than trying to nick it with Filch roaming around, and his cat just shaking to catch truant students out of bed. For starters, I might go with you – not that I think you're incapable, although I do. It's merely that getting the book will go smoother if you have a lookout. That way, you can get it without having to watch out for yourself at the same time. Also, I want to do it by the end of this week."

Ginny was wary. "I know that we should get the book soon, but why the hurry?"

"The faster we find out what that book has to offer, the faster I can get that hag off my back."

"Packard?" Ginny asked tentatively.

"No, Father Christmas," he snapped. "Who the hell else would I be talking about?"

"Don't get snippy with me, Malfoy!" Ginny ordered, pushing her hair out of her face. "I thought you would have learned your lesson in class today."

Draco looked furious once more, but then his eyes lightened as an idea began to form in his mind. "The woman seems to like you, doesn't she Weasel?" he asked, although it was more to himself than to Ginny.

Ginny shook her head nervously. "I…I guess so. Actually, I don't really know her at all."

Looking at Ginny with a decidedly cynical, yet sage look he said, "People on the 'Good Side' don't _need_ to really know someone to assume that they do. Packard sees that you're a Weasley, a Gryffindor, a Potter-worshipper,"- Ginny glared – "and she's enamored with you. That's all it takes. But I'm the son of Lucius Malfoy. You might as well call me public enemy number one."

Ginny felt herself reddening, although she didn't want to admit to him that he was right and give him the satisfaction.

Ginny mentally shook her head.

'No,' she thought firmly. 'He's just bitter.'

When Draco realized that Ginny was not going respond, he went back to the original topic.

"Anyway, instead of walking the crooked line, I might try on some Gryffindor Gold for a chance and get the book the legal way. Ask Packard for permission to check the book out."

Ginny almost laughed. 

"Do you think it'll work? I mean, Lockhart was a pushover, but that was because his brain was on himself most of the time. Packard has her head firmly planted on her shoulders."

"How will I know if it works, Weasley? At least try to think of a way to charm her, using your brain isn't always a dangerous thing."

The redhead bit her tongue and looked around the setting of the room once more. The Ravenclaw patterns seemed to dance on the walls with the rise and fall of the flames.

"Malfoy, I know I keep bringing this up, but why are you asking me to help you? What about Crabbe and Goyle and the rest of them?"

Draco stared at the fire. "It would be best for them to stay out of the limelight."

"I would think that they would try and help you, if you're such good friends."

A chilly laugh echoed around the room. "What good are they to my father, if they are under suspicion as well? Sure, they would help us if we could reciprocate, but all aiding us will give them right now is trouble. They're looking out for themselves, Weasel."

"Some friends," Ginny scoffed.

"Sounds the same to me as a traitorous brother."

"Ron would never betray me," Ginny said quietly, avoiding Draco's eye.

"We'll if you're so sure then," he said sarcastically.

After a moment he yawned and looked at his watch.

"It's late; I'm going to bed."

He got up, but Ginny remained in her chair, feeling very drained. As she watched him go though, she sprang up with the last bit of energy she possessed.

"Oh, right!" she called. "Wait!"

Draco ignored her and kept walking. 

"I said wait!" Ginny exclaimed, clutching the long sleeve of his robes.

"What?" he snapped.

"We need a better way to contact each other," Ginny told him. "It'll be difficult to ever get anything done if we constantly have to wait until late at night."

"And?"

"_And_ I thought that we might still be able to use this room, the only obvious flaw being that during the day, a lot of people probably pass by here, and they'd see us. I wish we knew where the Gryffindor and Slytherin staff rooms were…"

"There are a few books mentioning theories on where they may be found. If you go to the library tomorrow, check them out. For now, we should try using the Room of Requirement."

Ginny nodded her agreement. "What time?"

Draco thought for a moment. "The end of lunch. Most people are usually in the Great Hall or in their common rooms."

"What about if I need to owl you?" Ginny added.

"You're a needy one, aren't you?" Draco remarked, smirking at Ginny. She noticed that her hand was still on his arm and snatched it back, fighting a blush.

"Just use a regular school owl. If you need to owl me more than once, use a different one each time."

Ginny nodded. "Fine."

"Good. Am I allowed to go to bed now – unless you'd like to keep me company?

Scowling, Ginny brushed past him. "Lay off the hallucinogen sugar quills, Malfoy."

"Whatever you say, Weasel."

"Class dismissed."

The clatter of books and murmurs swam past Ginny as she gathered her own things together and glanced tentatively at Professor Packard.

"Ready to go?" Colin asked. He gave a small smile to Mavis who accidentally knocked into him.

"In a second. I just wanted to ask a question. Go to Charms without me so you're not late."

Colin nodded and left the room.

"Uh, Professor?" Ginny said neutrally, trying not to sound as if she was up to no good.

'How would Malfoy do this?' she asked herself. Then she mentally snorted. 'I never thought the day would come that I would aspire to be like Draco Malfoy…'

Packard looked at Ginny evenly, before flipping through her lesson plan for the next class.

"Was there something you needed, Ms. Weasley?" she asked.

"Yes," she answered, stepping forward, but keeping a certain amount of distance between herself and the formidable woman. "Actually, there was. I wanted to check a book out of the library…but…it's restricted; so I'll need a teacher to sign it out for me.

"Oh?" Packard answered. "And you wanted to come to me?"

"Yes," Ginny answered. "Because it's in your field and all, I thought that you might not mind…"

'I wish that she'd stop shuffling through those damned papers…' Ginny thought irritably. She was nervous enough. In her paranoid mind, Packard knew that Ginny wanted to check the book out so that she could help Draco.

"I suppose I wouldn't," Packard agreed. "But this couldn't wait until some time before lunch? Or at least when we both do not have another class?"

"I know that it's inconvenient right now, but I wasn't sure of any other time I could reach you. My schedule is sort of busy, and I asked around and yours is as well –"

At this the mousy-looking woman glanced up. "You asked around?"

Ginny flushed nervously. Had she made a misstep?

"I didn't want to catch you at an inopportune time…" Ginny said a bit defensively. Packard said nothing. "But I suppose I have…I'll try later. I'm sorry to have taken up your time."

It actually would have been better for Ginny to have met with Packard in private. That way, not so many people would have noticed that she stayed behind to ask for something – especially Colin, who was to be perfectly honest, painfully nosy sometimes. But Ginny was glad for his concern and tried not to begrudge him for it.

"I didn't say no, Ms. Weasley." Professor Packard said seriously, making sure that Ginny looked her in the eyes.

Ginny noticed that she actually had very nice eyes, with the tiniest of crow's feet next to them. At one point in her life, she must have laughed a lot. All the same, she didn't seem to be a woman chock full of smiles. As patient as she was, Ginny never saw a smile grace her features once.

'I guess being an auror does that to you,' Ginny thought. 

Feeling relieved, Ginny stopped walking away. In the distance, she heard voices approaching the room, but they were still far enough away.

Professor Packard nodded slightly at Ginny. "At least tell me what book it is, and I'll see what I can do for you."

"Oh, of course."

Taking off her bag and digging to the bottom of it where the slip that Draco had given her was written, Ginny saw Packard look at the clock and then return to the papers on her desk. She sat down in her chair and took out a Quick Quill.

"Here it is," Ginny said, handing the now violently wrinkled paper over. The professor briskly received it.

Her eyes scanned over it, and her brain processed the name of the book. Her head snapped up. Ginny stepped back.

"This is it?" She asked quietly, staring at Ginny with a penetrating look.

Ginny nodded.

"_Disguises, Lies, and Curses_…" she said, not looking away from Ginny for even a second.

The voices from the hall came even closer, soon the next class would be there, and Ginny did not want to be seen.

"This book…it's in the Restricted Section for a good reason. You understand that I am obligated to ask you what you intend to do with it?"

Ginny nodded again.

"So why do you want it?" The woman asked, her voice sounding very remote.

Ginny thought quickly. Placing a bit of a forlorn, lost look on her heart-shaped face she said quietly, "For _this_ class – Defense. I was…I was told that this book was the best I could ever hope to find on curses and things, and how to detect them, but I can't get it out without permission…"

Packard still looked unconvinced.

"You see, my brother is best friends with Harry Potter," Ginny blurted out. 

'Where did that come from….?' 

"And…I suppose you've heard…of the trouble they get into at the end of every year?"

Packard nodded tightly. "Yes," she said frigidly. "I have."

Ginny felt like shivering, although she realized that the tone of the professor's voice was not directed at her, it was at Voldemort – the cause of Harry and Ron's troubles at the end of the year.

Ginny felt a little more courageous. "And I just feel like…if I knew more about those…types of things, I could help them defend themselves a little better."

The students' voices were just outside the room, now, and the door opened.

"I can't believe you just said that!"

With a feeling of dread, Ginny recognized the voice as Hermione's. The only person that could only infuriate the intelligent girl so much was, of course, Ron.

But Packard paid them no mind.

"I understand, Ms. Weasley."

Ginny's hope soared; Packard was going to sign the book off!

"But I cannot grant you permission just yet."

Ginny's face fell and she looked searchingly at Packard, but the woman was looking through her papers once more.

"My class has arrived."

"I'm sure it would only take a few seconds –"

"Maybe tomorrow, Ms. Weasley. I have a class now – I believe that you do also?"

Ginny stood still for a second, looking at the top of her teacher's head.

"Alright."

She picked her bag up amongst the scraping of chairs as the seventh-year Defense class seated themselves.

Turning around to leave, Ginny froze when she caught Draco's eye; he was walking inside, Crabbe and Goyle a few paces behind him. Draco also froze, his eyebrow rose when he saw Ginny at Packard's desk. Ginny vaguely noticed Ron, Harry, and Hermione giving her a quick look as they settled themselves. Neville waved hello to Ginny, sitting next to Hermione, but Ginny did not notice.

"Oh, Ms. Weasley?"

Ginny swung around halfway. "Yes, Professor?" she asked, feeling suddenly breathless.

"The person who recommended it, who was it?"

Ginny racked her brains. "It was my friend, Luna Lovegood. Her father owns a paper, and so he knows about all kinds of good books."

She could almost _feel_ Draco's serpentine smile from where she stood, he was pleased with her answer – he certainly looked so, from what she could see in her peripheral vision. For some reason, Ginny felt pleased with herself, knowing that she had pulled it off.

"I know of Mr. Lovegood and _The Quibbler_," Packard said nodding. "So, Ms. Lovegood wrote this note?" She waved the wrinkled paper, and Ginny almost blanched. Draco's neat, graceful print was on it.

"Of course," Ginny said quickly, reaching for the paper.

Packard looked at her for a second, holding the paper just out of Ginny's reach. Then she gave it to her.

"I'll see you next class, Ms. Weasley," she said.

Ginny nodded, stuffed the parchment deep into her pocket and turned.

The walk down the aisle seemed very long as Ginny walked to where Draco still stood. When his lips were right above her ear, she could hear him say in a silky whisper,

"Nice job, Weasel. Nice job."

Ginny grinned, the tiniest hint of pink on her cheeks.

"Don't I know it," she whispered back.

They looked at each other.

"We will begin class now, if Mr. Malfoy's brain connects with his nerves and tells him to walk inside! Prepare yourselves for a long wait, class."

The humor that was in his eyes disappeared as if Snape had spat the Vanishing Charm. Openmouthed at Packard's open display of dislike for Draco, Ginny watched Draco stiffen and enter the room against the snickers of the Trio and the rest of Gryffindor.

"Close the door behind you, Ms. Weasley," Ginny heard Packard say.

She did.

It was the work of a good ten minutes to make sure that no one caught Ginny near the Room of Requirement.

If the rotten look on Draco's face was any indication of how his day had gone after his Defense class, Ginny knew that telling him that she hadn't gotten the book signed off wouldn't be greeted with a smile.

Walking past the nondescript door three times, thinking incongruously: "A safe place to meet with Malfoy…A safe place to meet with Malfoy…"

When she stopped pacing back and forth, Ginny noted that the door had become a dark mahogany with a dull copper knob. Turning it slowly, she entered and peered around, not wanting to get another nasty surprise. Fortunately, he was not in the mood for pranks and looked around when she came inside.

The dim light that was cast throughout the room made Ginny blink a few times until her eyes adjusted to the change, but when she was able to see she smiled wryly. It was almost like the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff staff rooms save for the fact that the wallpaper was equally adorned with little griffins and serpents. The darkness of the room made the forest green carpet appear almost black under her shoes, and small golden tassels around the edges of the carpet gave it a Gryffindor feel. The plush couches were also forest green, with golden trimmings. Ginny figured that Draco must have ordered the room to be as Slytherin accommodating as possible.

"What did the woman say?" Draco demanded, leaving no time for cordialities.

Ginny sighed and looked at the blond evenly. "She said that she wouldn't mind signing it off, if she could do it another time."

He was very still.

"What was wrong with today?" he snapped.

"How would I know? She made it sound like she had a lot of work to do and since your class barged in the room –"

"Actually it was your obnoxious brother and his ugly girlfriend –"

"- She changed her mind and told me to come back tomorrow." Ginny stood in front of Draco. "I want to know where exactly you heard of that book. If you'd only seen her face when she saw it…I thought for a second that she would haul me in to the Ministry herself. If you're trying to get me in trouble, Malfoy-"

"We are _not_ having this conversation again, Weasley! Must I spell it out once more? Your head on a stick equals my head on a stick; and since you're connected with the Golden Boy, I'm the one with more to lose here. We need that book, and now."

Ginny reluctantly accepted his statement of innocence and tried to pacify him. "Tomorrow will come soon enough. Just be patient."

Pulling a shrunken _Daily Prophet_ from his pocket and making it bigger (he really _was_ taking caution seriously) Draco opened it to an article and shoved it at Ginny.

"Patience," he spat, "isn't buying us time."

Ginny growled and began to read the article. 

**_Man Alone_**

_The bodies have been dressed and laid in their caskets. The heavy wooden doors shut upon their cold, white faces; the soil poured on top of them; their gravestones proclaim: Emit Jones Harris, Dedicated Father; Maura Allison Harris, Loving Mother. Allison, William, and Jacob Harris: Angels Returned to Heaven: a dedicated father, a loving mother, and their three, angelic children, all slain in their cozy home in the outskirts of a homey Muggle neighborhood.___

_Indeed they are gone, but their funeral pyre burns on, trying to cast light on why this happened to them. Why did Alfred Tinelle murder this innocent family?_

_Some speculate that he snapped due to pressure that he had been experiencing at work._

_"In the past months, maybe even up to a year I've been noticing a change in Al," notes Terrence Wiggleby, a co-wizard at Tinelle's office in the Ministry. "He'd come into work looking like the Homely Hex was just performed on him and then stay really late at the office. 'You're burning the candle at both ends', I'd tell him. 'Burning the candle at both ends'."_

_In contrast to this, Tinelle's wife claims that everything at home was secure, not in a state of matrimonial mayhem that might drive a rational man like Tinelle to do such a deed._

_"Everything was fine with us," says Mary Tinelle, clutching her patterned apron with white fingers. "Sure, Alfred was…going through some stress – everyone goes through stress at work." Her doe-brown eyes appear to water and her voice trembles. "If I'd just been told…" She shakes her head. "If something were the matter with him, Al would have told me. We're in this together."_

_And indeed they must be, for the future looks rather dim for Wizard Tinelle. Or does it?_

_There have been hints that foul play is afoot behind all the gold and glass at the Ministry. Interestingly enough, Mr. Gold, Glass, and Galleons himself, Lucius Malfoy is at the forefront of these aforementioned hints._

_Lucius Malfoy appears to be the stereotypical rich wizard. Dripping in the finest cut jewelry and layered in this season__'__s finest made robes (most likely custom made); Mr. Malfoy seems to have landed himself in a custom-made-mess. A man well-known for his various dealings in the Ministry and education (such as his former post as a governor on the school-board at Hogwarts where his seventeen-year-old son Draco is educated), Lucius has been known to dabble in all kinds of business – inside the Ministry and out. _

_Is it possible that Mr. Malfoy, notorious for his iron will, business acumen, and good word has been dealing with business of the most nefarious kind?_

_The writing will be on the wall._

_We at the Prophet tried to contact Mr. Malfoy, but unfortunately, he was unavailable for comment._

_"Unavailable?" snorts Faison Vole, a close friend of Mr. Tinelle's. "Sure, busy counting his pretty galleons and digging more graves for the businesses and lives that he destroys."_

_Mr. Vole packs a suitcase frantically in his quaint, Diagon Alley flat._

_"Going?" he questions back after my inquiry to what he is packing for. "Ah…you know, Miss…a bloke needs a vacation now-and-then. I've got to be on my way. Please." He wipes a bead of sweat from his brow, looks around fretfully and apparates away._

_While we at the Prophet do _not_ endorse such opinions about Mr. Malfoy or any persons so concerned in this terrible matter, we are forced to stand at attention and watch where the wind blows.___

_And it is an ill-wind that blows o'er Malfoy Manor come Saturday._

_The Ministry is endorsing a full-scale raid on the stoic, beautiful mansion. (Early Victorian style, some say). And why will the halls of Malfoy manor be disturbed by the searching wandpoints of twenty aurors or so? Word around the wizarding grapevine calls The Division of Dangerous Artifacts a favorite sect of Mr. Malfoy's – the same division that Mr. Alfred Tinelle works for. He has often been said to communicate with Mr. Alfred Tinelle on more than one occasion – though the content of those discussions is, of course, most confidential._

_Might something have disturbed Mr. Malfoy's equilibrium concerning Mr. Tinelle? Might Mr. Malfoy then have – by some off chance – placed a substantial Imperius on Mr. Tinelle – or blackmailed him? Guards at the wizard prison Azkaban have been keeping Mr. Malfoy's cell from two years ago warm, they say. ___

_Whatever the outcome of this may be, all that any of us know is that a heinous wrong has been committed. Whether it be mere Muggles that have been hurt, or any of us magical kind, we are all at risk._

_In the end, we of the wizarding world clutch our husbands and wives closer to us, give our children a little extra dessert at supper and wonder: "Are any of us safe?"_

- _Article by Rita Skeeter_

"Wow…" Ginny breathed, feeling shaken. "She sure knows how to spin a tale."

"That is the biggest understatement of the bleeding year!" Draco fumed, his eyes burning bright.

Ginny didn't negate that. Instead, after a second of holding the trash in her hand, she tried to give it back to Draco.

He down heavily and waved his hand away.

"Throw it into the fire for all I care." A fire sparked up in the hearth and Ginny walked to it. Looking at the paper before it would go to its fiery grave she realized that it might come in handy at a later time.

"Actually, I think I'll keep it for now." She shrunk it and put it into her robes.

"Do you understand why we need to get that book now? Time is running out for my father. That…_bint_, Skeeter is making unnecessary trouble for him – for us."

"You have nothing to do with what your father did," Ginny stated. At Draco's glare she amended, "Or didn't do."

The blond gestured at Ginny's pocket where the _Prophet_ lay. "She didn't state my name in there for my health. She's trying to spark up all kinds of…of foment for anyone who reads that trash. I won't be able to walk through the halls without people talking about me now."

Ginny smirked more than a little righteously. "I never knew that you were so self-conscious."

"Shove it, Weasley." Ginny couldn't help the grin that escaped. "I'm glad you think this is so sodding funny. I guess I'm always good for a laugh."

Underneath the anger that was obviously present, Ginny detected a bit of resentment that made the grave situation humorous.

"Aw, don't sulk. I'm sure that you'll be back in the sandbox playing Newspaper again soon."

Draco threw his head back and closed his eyes.

"Dare I ask what you mean by that?" He said in clipped tones.

Ginny walked around him.

"I'm sure that _someone's_ feeling a little betrayed right now, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco went rigid. "Don't call me that right now. Or ever, for that matter."

Ginny stared at him. "You didn't have any problem with me calling you that before."

"That was before Rita fucking Skeeter made it sound like trash in the most read newspaper in the wizarding world. I _am_ a Malfoy, Weasley – never forget that. But I'm not my father."

Ginny looked at him for a moment more and then shrugged with exaggerated nonchalance to ease the tension out of the room. The last thing she desired was another argument with any Malfoy.

"Alright…Draco," she said, trying out the name on her tongue.

From the corner of her eye she could see him wince and she scowled.

"It was your idea."

He frowned and looked at her quickly. "I know that. It's just going to take some getting used to."

"I'll say," Ginny muttered, running her hand through her hair.

"Anyway, what were you going on about?"

Ginny's catlike smile returned. "Do you think anyone has forgotten the close relationship you and Skeeter shared in your fourth year? What was your policy? 'Making the world hell for decent citizens, guaranteed.'"

Draco frowned angrily. "I should've known never to trust anyone who enjoyed making people suffer as much as I did."

Ginny burst into laughter.

"What the hell's the matter with you? I'm not joking," he stated firmly, startled and irritated by her amusement.

Ginny shook uncontrollably and tried to cover her mouth. But the more she looked at his serious face, the more laughter bubbled up.

"That…that's what's so funny…" she insisted.

"Sorry if I don't agree," Draco snapped. "She turned on me."

Ginny began to laugh even more.

"Oh…I apologize!" She sat on the floor next to his chair. "I had no idea that there was something going on between you two."

Draco's eyebrows rose and his mouth parted slightly in a supreme expression of incredulity.

"Mrs.….Mrs. Rita Skeeter-Malfoy!" Ginny exclaimed.

Draco went ashen. From anger or embarrassment, Ginny could not tell.

"Feel free to tell your mouth to shut up anytime now."

The situation was not funny in _any_ way from Draco's viewpoint. Watching Ginny's futile attempts to sober up just to fall apart was grating on him. His very life was being pulled to shambles around him: his father was in a heap of trouble for something Draco wasn't even sure he _didn't_ do; Rita Skeeter had just announced to the world that aurors were going to take a tour of his house; his Defense teacher hated his very guts and wanted to destroy him at all costs; and he was forced to cooperate with a Weasley. The unknown one, no less! And all that said Weasley could do was laugh about it and make jokes about him marrying the most intrusive, most indecent reporter on the planet. It wasn't funny. Even Ginny's last dig at him about 'Mrs. Rita Skeeter-Malfoy' wasn't funny…it really wasn't. Really.

By now Ginny was hiccupping on the carpeted floor like an intoxicated Winky.

"'Kay…Okay…" she said, chancing a look up at him.

When she discovered at length that the mere sight of him was not going to illicit any more laughter or jokes she began to breathe normally.

For all the arguing that they did, and all of the laughing she had just thrown in his face, Ginny noticed that Draco looked like any one of the people she knew caught in a misstep or dreadfully embarrassed. Before she could register what she was doing, she had put her hand on top of the one that was gripping the arm of couch.

"I'm sorry," she said to him in earnest. "If you didn't find it funny at all…" she began to laugh again and felt his hand stiffen. Coughing, she continued, "If it offended you, I'm sorry. It's just that you sounded so…so human for once, I don't know...And although I'm not very sure if it _is _human to have forged a relationship with Rita Skeeter, what she insinuated about your family – your father – was unnecessary." 

Ginny in fact was not sorry at all for what Lucius Malfoy must have been going through at the moment. She hoped that he was pulling his long, blond hair out by the cartful. But putting Draco's name in the article just to give him trouble was admittedly wrong. And so was laughing at him, when he was clearly troubled with the fact that aurors were going to be going through the place that he lived (even if it was like a mausoleum) – and possibly his things. The redhead certainly would have hated to find out that anyone was going to be searching through her own home.

She didn't bother to add to her apology that the Ministry search might procure some interesting things and that few of them would probably be good. It was obvious enough.

Ginny concentrated on Draco's face and registered that he hadn't said anything.

"Mal- er…Draco…" She said, shaking her head. It would definitely take some getting used to. "I said that I'm sorry."

She looked at him and saw that he in turn was looked at her with a look of intense scrutiny. She chose to take it for ire.

"If my apology isn't good enough for you, then I can't do anything about –"

"I heard you," he interrupted.

Ginny blinked. "Oh. Okay, then."

Her hand was still on his and it was noticeably more relaxed than it had been before.

"I didn't expect you to apologize," he spoke.

Ginny shrugged, beginning to feel strange.

"I didn't expect you to take it to heart – my jokes, I mean."

Draco smirked.

"Your insults, you mean." A smile tugged at Ginny's own lips. "And yes you did expect me to."

"No, I didn't," she protested.

"Liar."

"Fine!"

"I win."

"Sure," Ginny quipped, rolling her eyes. "It's like you said, you're always right."

His eyes were bright, but not with anger this time, and there were light traces of blue, growing inside of them. Ginny could feel her face begin to heat up and she looked away – anywhere but at his eyes. Her eyes widened when she saw that somehow their palms were touching on the arm of the couch, and their fingers were laced together.

"You're a quick study."

Ginny glanced at the boy who was now leaning very close to her. He was too close to her…She didn't know what she would do if the distance became even smaller…

She licked her lips and spoke as loudly as she could, as if to distract him from their intimate scene.

"I've been told that I'm a diligent student."

The effect was entirely the opposite of what she hoped – or so she thought. It was difficult not to notice her pulse speeding up as his eyes seemed to bore into her, his fingertips around her hand, drawing her closer.

What in the world was happening to her sanity? Ginny questioned herself.

With a lightening fast but strong tug back, Ginny pulled herself out of Draco's grasp. But to her confusion – and deep down her secret delight – he didn't look away from her, though he did look confused at his actions. And her response.

"Right. I'm sorry again for what I said." She cleared her throat. When had her mouth become so dry? "I'll see what I can do concerning Packard. But don't do anything drastic without telling me first."

His eyes had seemed to clear up a little from their slightly cloudy state at the mention of his favorite teacher's name. He nodded at Ginny's orders.

"Alright, then," she said, unsure of what to do next. "So…I guess…we'll be in touch." Draco looked at Ginny long and hard and she gulped.

"Goodbye," she stated quickly, and turned tail.

The heavy door to the Room of Requirement shut.

From now on the author's notes are coming at the end unless there is something absolutely urgent that demands to be put up top. First and foremost, a gigantic, massive thank you must go to my beta: Tristan2 for all of her work with me. She is seriously my ray of sunlight and sunshine in this. Wow. Especially since this chapter had to be split into two, since it was originally twice as long. (I'll post the second half soon, if I get reviews for this one. Yes, I've resorted to blackmail).

Anyway, thank you so much, Tristan. I owe you so much.

Please review! You know you want to!

Femme


	7. Seven

_Author's Notes_: I hope the delay wasn't too long. I've been away for about two weeks. This has been typed up for awhile, but my beta, Tristan2 is away at the moment as well, so this isn't beta read. I hope there aren't too many mistakes.

_Disclaimer_: Only the plot and Professor Packard are mine.

_Miss Cellophane_

Ginny wandered aimlessly down the halls for a good five minutes, wondering which way she should go.

It was surprising how much time was still left until her next class – it had felt like an eternity had passed in the Room of Requirement with Draco.

'Draco,' she thought, then she pushed that direction of her mind away for the moment and tried to concentrate on things that would actually make sense to her.

There were still the other books to get on the list, and it might be better to take them out at separate times – it would not be prudent to take out a ton of books about the Dark Arts all at one time. Ron would get suspicious if he saw – anyone would. Even if Ron, Harry, and Hermione were in their own world, the Keeper tried to keep one eye on Ginny some of the time.

But Ginny didn't feel like walking around a musty library at that moment. Although she did want to deaden her senses to the sensations that had been rushing through her only moments before, she needed time to think by herself.

So, she found herself walking to the Entrance Hall to go outside. September was coming to a graceful, colorful close, and Ginny inhaled the crisp air that was swirling around with more verve than usual. It seemed like it was going to be a cold winter, which she was not looking forward to, as she despised being cold in any fashion. The only reason Ginny appreciated the turn of fall into winter was because of the brightly hued leaves that fell from the trees around Hogwarts.

Spying a large orange one, Ginny picked it up and twirled the stem around absently in her fingers. The brown veins of the leaf in her hand were still thick with the reminiscence of the water that had flown through it, and Ginny resolved to keep it. She had shunted most of her childhood aside as soon as possible – in favor of tumbling with the older boys – but Molly Weasley insisted that Ginny continue to make her "Leafy Sheaves". They were cards of parchment with the large, beautiful leaves imprinted on them. A weepy Molly informed Ginny that they were "One of the only vestiges left of her babies, and that if Ginny knew what was good for her, she would continue to make them for her Mummy."

Once Ron had tried to make his own "Leafy Sheave", but he had not gotten the hang of how to make the imprint of the leaf on the parchment. Since children were not able to use magic, and Ginny often wanted to make her cards in secret, she had begged her father to let her have her own supply of Stickysap (one of the many uses for Stinksap, which came from mimbulus mimbletoniae, Neville would discover). But the sticky substance, so much like Muggle Super Glue – except worse – had to be handled with care. Ron ended up getting one hand stuck in his hair, and the other stuck to his face. The Twins had tormented Ron with renditions of the "If You're Happy and You Know It" song ("If you're happy and you know it touch your head! If you're happy and you know it, touch your face! Hey, Ron must be ecstatic – he can't stop doing either!"), and he had a rather embarrassing bald spot until Bill secretly did a Hair-Growing Charm on him. Needless to say, Ron hadn't gone near the stuff since.

Ginny chuckled at the memories and walked closer to the lake. She was about to sit down near the edge when a figure a little way away caught her eye. A disheveled blonde was busy at work picking up rocks. Brushing her hair out of her face, only to have the wind stubbornly throw it back, Ginny walked toward Luna.

"Looking for stones to skip?" Ginny asked the girl. The rocks bulging out of her hands were mostly the same – all small, gray, flat, and smooth.

"No. Looking for Flintwomps," she said distractedly, not looking at Ginny.

Ginny began to chuckle.

"Oh, sorry."

"Nothing to apologize for, Ginny Weasley. It was an honest mistake. Have you relayed my message to Colin? Did it help?"

Ginny nodded resolutely.

"Just now you've reminded me to thank you. It was great advice."

"You're welcome. To repay me, you can help me look for Flintwomps for the rest of lunch."

Ginny's eyes widened. Then she smiled and shook her head.

"Sure, Luna."

Turning away from the girl's bent back; Ginny crouched low and picked over some of the stones.

"Wait – what exactly _am_ I looking for?"

Ginny poked through the sandy earth and dusted some of the rocks off; she didn't receive an answer.

"Luna?"

When Ginny turned to the side to look at her fellow sixth-year, she found that the wide-eyed girl was staring at her.

"Er, something the matter?"

"I was joking, Ginny Weasley," she answered. "About helping me."

Ginny wrinkled an eyebrow and began to rise. "So you don't want me to help?"

"Help would be nice. I was joking, though. I like to look for things alone, I'm used to it, but companionship is sometimes nice. But we must not be at it too long – classes will start up soon." She turned away from Ginny. "Flintwomps look just like regular skipping stones. Except they breathe and have many, tiny little legs."

Ginny looked at Luna's back once more and smiled. "Have you found any yet?"

"No," said Luna resolutely. "But they are there, just hiding. And now that you are looking for them too, they might try to hide even more now."

"Should I stop?" Ginny asked her voice full of confusion.

"No," Luna answered. "After hiding for a long time they get bored – and tired. They will come out sometime. You will see."

Twenty minutes later the pair had not found any Flintwomps, but they had a good supply of skipping stones.

"It's too bad," Ginny said, with an actual note of disappointment in her voice. "I was looking forward to finding some."

"Another time," Luna assured her. "If you want to come out again we will find them. Or we will find something else. You never know."

Ginny looked at Luna and nodded. The girl was definitely quirkier once one got to know her, but she was also wiser, and nicer than anyone gave her credit for. And she had a quality about her that made anything seem possible.

Heading back up the castle, they passed by the Greenhouse and Ginny realized how much ground they had covered. Seeing a figure in the large windows, designed to give the plants optimum sunlight, Ginny saw Neville's familiar figure watching her companion and her leaving the grounds.

Ginny gestured for Neville to come with them and looked at Luna to get her to help, but Luna was busy counting the stones they had picked up and something about sending them by tawny owl to her father. It was just as well, though, since Neville gestured back down at the plants in the various pots around him. He often did volunteer work there, but since he was so good at it and came so often, Professor Sprout gave him extra credit for it. From the look of Neville's gesticulations, Ginny noted that he was going to spend a few more minutes there.

She waved goodbye and saw him wave back after a slight pause and then return to his work.

"What do you have next?" Ginny asked Luna when they reached the doors. She held the door open for the other girl as her hands were full.

"I'm not sure, but it's not with you."

Ginny was becoming accustomed to Luna's blunt manner of speech and knew not to be offended. "Yeah, I know. We only have Care of Magical Creatures together, right?"

"Right."

They began walking up the main staircase. Ginny knew where Luna would turn off to go to her own dormitory, but of course she would not tell Luna that.

"I guess I'll see you later, then," Ginny said, unsure of how to say goodbye to her new friend.

"Of course. I will save you a space on the grass when we have our next class together."

Luna walked off, apparently still thinking about her rocks and Ginny smiled and headed off to get her own books.

When she came back down the stairs, she realized that she might not see Colin until after her next class, since she had Arithmancy. Luckily, Professor Vector hadn't assigned too much homework, as there was still a matter of a Potions essay that wouldn't die to finish up, and other assignments to complete. Not to mention the 'extra-curricular' work that she needed to go to the library for. Thinking about it a little more, Ginny decided that she might as well save getting those books for the weekend; maybe Saturday afternoon. It would be easy to get away from Colin's attentions – and Ron's as well, if he wasn't doing something with Hermione.

Never had Ginny been so eager for Hogsmeade visits. During those times, it would be easiest for her to stay behind – away from Ron's prying eyes. An added addition was that Hermione would probably take up most of his time, though with what, Ginny chose not to think about. But that was a distant hope for now. Proof of that came when Colin bounded up to Ginny.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in _ages_," he remarked, grinning at her. "Being away from you for too long makes me pine."

"Make sure your needles don't fall inside the building," Ginny replied evenly, "or Filch will have you in shackles faster than you can say 'Mummy'."

"Yes, Mummy," Colin retorted, swinging his arms.

Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"You're in a good mood."

"And I owe it all to you, Ginny-dear," her friend told her. "That Divination homework you helped me with was pure genius. I'm sure to get full N.E.W.T.s next year if you keep it up."

"So the old bat liked it?"

"_Yes_, the esteemed professor liked it," answered Colin, holding the Charms door open. "She even read it aloud in class."

"Great job in Divination, Colin!" said Mavis Butters, running in the classroom to retrieve her fallen wand.

Colin smiled broadly.

"Yeah, the red silk sheets strangling you were inspired," piped up another Gryffindor.

Ginny gave Colin a shrewd look.

"You do realize that no one in Gryffindor has red silk sheets, don't you?"

Colin walked past Ginny to get to his chair.

"I think your Inner Eye needs a good cleaning spell, Ginny."

"You should listen to your little friend, Colin," said an uptight voice from aside.

Colin's fists clenched and he pasted a tight smile on his face and turned.

"I'm sorry, what was that, Gavin?"

Gavin sat down and put his briefcase on the table. Opening it up with a sharp '_click!'_ from his wand he addressed Colin.

"You'll never get anywhere by telling tales. It's bad enough that you're trying to exercise your…well, I'm sorry to say so, but your rather mundane, _commonplace_ abilities in a branch of magic as imprecise as Divination." He gave Ginny a winning smile. "One day – if you're ever up to it, of course – you should join Ginevra and me in our Arithmancy class. You're sure to find it more stimulating than any photograph or crystal ball!" He gave Ginny a wink as if they shared some great Arithmantic secret. Then he looked back at Colin. "But of course that's just a word of advice." He looked back down at his books.

Ginny thought that Colin was going to throw Gavin out of the window.

But instead, Colin handled the situation maturely and simply replied,

"And your advice is always welcome, Swotright. Oh, I mean Wotright, Wotright, of course!" Colin amended when Gavin looked up sharply at the word swot. "How silly and _mundane_ of me to mistake you for anything less than the paragon for all that are perfect and admirable. Because you were _never_ that kid who was beat up on the playground or enjoyed spankings from Mummy when he got his trousers dirty, were you, Gavin?"

Gavin gaped at Colin. "Of…of _course_ not! What on earth do you –?"

"Let's begin, class! Let's begin!" squeaked Flitwick from atop his pile of books.

Ginny grinned like a Cheshire cat as she sat down next to Colin.

"'Enjoyed spankings from Mummy?'" Ginny whispered, opening her text.

Colin shrugged nonchalantly and picked up his wand, while inclining his head at a beaming Mavis who gave him a thumbs-up.

"C'mon; can't you just see it?"

Ginny chuckled quietly and began skimming over the instructions.

"Where's that Wotright bloke?" Ron asked, spearing peas onto his fork.

Harry smirked at Hermione when she reddened a little and Colin and Ginny grinned madly at each other.

"He's…he's indisposed," Ginny said, trying violently not to laugh at the boy who was seated as far away as dignity would permit.

"Yeah. He went to see his mother," Colin answered.

By this time, it was hard for the pair not to be under the table with laughter.

"This isn't funny," Hermione said.

"I don't mind," Ron put in. "He's usually as close to us as possible."

"Or as close to Hermione as possible…or as close as you'll let him come to Hermione," said Harry.

"Why does he look like that?" Hermione questioned Colin and Ginny.

"You mean like he's got a stick up his bum?" Mavis rejoined, listening in. She was staying away from Parvati who had yet to forgive her clumsiness with the jug of pumpkin juice. "I see no difference."

Colin and Ginny snickered.

"You should leave him alone! It's a sad day when people make fun of others for being intelligent. You should appreciate him, instead. _He's_ the kind of person that's made Head Boy," Hermione chastised with a stern look on her face.

"Why do you care so much if he becomes Head Boy?" Ron asked with annoyance, putting his chicken down. Harry shook his head. Mavis made vulgar motions that included Gavin and a stick; Colin laughed appreciatively. "There's no need to fret over him."

"I'm not _fretting_ for him!" Hermione argued, turning redder. "I'm sticking up for him. Stop laughing, Ginny!"

"Ah, you're just sore because a tightwad like Wotright is _sweet_ on you," Ron insisted. "But I would highly advise that you not put him on like you are. Giving him hope will only make it worse."

"He's not _sweet_ on anyone!" Hermione insisted, though she had no proof of anything otherwise. "He simply looks up to me as a role model."

"So he wants to be Head Girl?" Ron asked innocently. Harry snorted loudly in his cup and Hermione cut her eyes at him.

"No more than _you_," Hermione shot back.

Ron put his hands up in defense. "It's understandable that you think you need to help the man out, Hermione – I too see the resemblance between him and House Elf –"

Harry laughed outright at that.

"- but while there's an S.P.E.W., there isn't a G.R.E.W….or whatever it would be if you tried to save his sick life."

Hermione crossed her arms huffily.

"If I'd known that you felt this way about people having important roles in school, I would have thought more about being in a relationship with you, Ronald Weasley."

Ron was aghast.

"Are you mad? Are you really questioning going out with me because of a freaky little sixth-year who wears too-tight pants?"

Ginny shook her head sadly.

"Tact, Ron. _Tact_."

"_I_ didn't say anything, Ron. You did enough talking for the both of us."

Ron threw his hands up to the heavens. "This is insane! Now you're going to put on that act that you get when you're angry but trying not to show it."

"I'm not angry."

"Yes, you are!"

"If I am, it's your fault!"

"Enough!" Harry shouted. "Hermione, we're sorry that we teased Gavin. He deserves more than that. It won't happen again. Ron, we should respect Gavin and not make fun of him. No matter how much of a tightwad he may or may not be. All better?"

"Hardly," Hermione shot back, but she stopped sulking. "It won't be better until all of you –" she gave her best friends, Ginny, Colin and Mavis a hard look "- get over your jealousy of Gavin."

"_Over Gavin_?" Ron mouthed to Ginny. Ginny kicked him in the shin.

"Sorry," Ginny mumbled, trying to sound as contrite as she could. Colin nodded, though he and Mavis were sharing a wicked smile.

"I mean it's understandable if he's a bit…high-strung," Hermione continued, eating once again, "but being Head Boy takes a lot out of you. You have to supervise every little thing – some people are _terrible_ at following the simplest of directions and need all kinds of micromanagement. But then if you try, they get all snippy with you and call you all sorts of names." Once more she looked blackly at the people around her.

"Has our own, venerable Head Boy been giving you any trouble?" Harry asked suspiciously.

Ginny looked at them curiously.

"Who _is_ Head Boy this year? I never bothered to ask once I realized that it wasn't you or Ron."

"It's Malfoy," Ron spat. "And he'd better not be messing with you."

Hermione shook her head, albeit reluctantly.

"Surprisingly, no. He still gives me the nastiest looks," Ron growled. "But we pretty much ignore each other. I don't even think I've said one word to him during a Prefects meeting – we just stick to nodding and gestures. And when we set up the meetings, it's by owl."

"Good," Ron and Harry said together.

"But he must have been in a bit of a pet today," Harry commented with a small smile on his face, looking at Hermione, green orbs intent.

"Understatement…very big understatement," Hermione replied. "He kept terrifying poor Gavin and all of the younger prefects into silence! I almost yelled at him for it, until he looked at the Prefect meeting supervisor and shut up. I swear that they were still shaking, though."

"Why's he upset?" Ginny asked, trying not to sound too eager. "When was your Prefect meeting?"

"On Thursdays we have it last period, which is really too bad because I'd wanted to take a course then, but it wouldn't fit in with the schedule."

"Only Hermione would be upset that she has a free period instead of class more than one time during the week," Ron jibed.

"It's not a free period!" The brunette insisted. "It's real work; changes that you might not notice are being implemented all of the time. For one thing," she said with a spark in her eye, "we got the second-floor corridor lav shut up – you know, Myrtle's toilet."

Harry and Ron's heads popped up with sudden excitement.

"Really?!" Harry said, overjoyed. "That's great!"

"I had no idea that Moaning Myrtle's toilet bothered you so much, Harry. Is it because that one doesn't have couches?" Ginny said slyly. "If you want me to tell you of a really good one though, go past the statue of Germaine the Laugh on the fourth floor…"

Harry had the grace to blush.

"It's not like that…"

"Myrtle's always had a thing for our Harry, here," Ron informed her.

Ginny shrugged. "But how does that matter if you don't go in there?"

The three seventh-years looked at each other.

"Well…in second-year, we made the mistake – once…of going in there. Ever since, Myrtle's never let up on asking for Harry to visit her. Sometimes she floods the loo if Harry doesn't stop in there now and then."

Understanding the way Ginny's mind worked, Harry went on quickly, "And we'd tell you why we went in there in the first place, except we wouldn't want to bore you with the details."

Ginny wanted to argue that she would not find the tale boring in any way, but she let it rest – for the moment. Eating in silence for a few moments while Colin chatted with Mavis, Ginny recalled when Hermione met with Draco.

"Wait, so you met with Malfoy last period?"

Hermione nodded.

"After lunch?"

Another nod.

"Why would he be in a pet?" Ginny asked, looking at her plate. Was it because of what had transpired in the Room of Requirement?

Hermione looked sideways at Ron and Harry; Harry nodded slightly, and Hermione went fishing in her pocket for something.

When it was placed on the table, Ginny had to suppress a moan.

Instead she asked, "So…er…is this the newest _Prophet_?" She flipped through the pages weakly.

Hermione nodded emphatically. "Turn to page DP2 – it's the cover story."

What Ginny had not noticed in the Room of Requirement was that a large, in color photo of Malfoy Manor was posted on the front page of the newspaper.

Colin eyed the picture interestedly.

"Couldn't have done better myself," he announced.

Ginny gave him a small smile and opened it to the right page; but she didn't look at it.

Ron looked at her oddly.

"Well, go on and read it!" he ordered. "This is one thing we _don't_ mind showing you!"

Hermione elbowed him in the shoulder.

"Geez, woman; I didn't mean anything by it."

"You never do."

Ginny let the lovebirds squabble good-naturedly while she pretended to read the article. She had her fair share reading the tasteless drivel in the presence of Draco. When she was "finished", she looked up.

"Rita Skeeter is a piece of work," she settled for saying.

Hermione's eyes blazed furiously.

"I know! After I thought that hateful _cow_ was reformed, she goes and writes something like this! 'Mere, Muggles'…She has no respect for what Muggle-borns contribute to wizarding society! And even if that poor family had nothing to do with magic at all, they still shouldn't be spoken about in such a brazen fashion. It's unforgivable! If I had my hands on her right now…" Hermione looked as if she was possessed by a malevolent spirit. "_What_ the editors at the _Prophet_ were thinking, I'll never know!"

Ginny agreed wholeheartedly on that point.

"Wasn't she working for _Witch_ _Weekly_, though?" she asked no one in particular, nodding her head in Colin's direction. "We were just reading an article from there the other day, and it was by her."

Hermione shook her head 'no'.

"Well, I've heard that she doesn't really work _anywhere_ right now. After her disgusting piece covering the Tri-Wizard Tournament, she quit her previous job and settled for freelance work – remember the exposé she did with Harry in your fourth-year? That was for _The_ _Quibbler_. She goes wherever there's pay. I suppose, though," Hermione added with a sigh, looking at the paper, "that people settle for whatever is controversial instead of what's decent."

"The _whole_ thing wasn't bad," Ron contested, grinning at Harry.

"Yeah. I loved the part about the world getting a grand tour of Malfoy Manor. If I could buy a ticket to that show, I'd spend all the money I've got."

Hermione looked at him sharply.

"Well, it's aurors only, so I guess that's not an option."

"Calm, down, 'Mione; there's no way I'd get in anyway."

Ginny fingered the gold tablecloth.

"All the same…" she said, thinking of Draco for some reason "Isn't the idea of a Ministry raid a little frightening?"

"Sure!" Harry exclaimed. "I can't imagine all that Lucius Malfoy's hiding away in his ferret-hole."

There was no point in her stating that the article painted Draco Malfoy in a bad light also. It sounded ludicrous even to her ears.

'Besides,' she thought, 'I doubt I'll feel that way the next time he insults me.'

"Then again," Harry added thoughtfully, "I doubt that Lucius Malfoy would be so stupid as to leave Dark artifacts just lying around."

Ron nodded mournfully. "Yeah, that's too bad."

The conversation continued along that same vein for awhile, but Ginny remained nervous that Draco might look across the Hall and see her with the paper opened in front of her.

"Thanks, Hermione," she said, pushing the article to the older girl. "It was definitely informative."

Colin looked up and grabbed at the paper.

"Would you mind if I kept it, Hermione – or at least borrowed it? The pictures in there might come in handy."

"All you want to do is gawk at Malfoy's house," Ginny protested. The paper was in the air, with Hermione reaching for it, and Colin still grabbing for it. Part of it was still in Ginny's hands.

"Actually, I need it," Hermione informed Colin. "But you can have it for now."

Ginny rolled her eyes. Looking back at the Slytherin table, she was startled to see Draco looking directly at them. Letting go of the paper as if it burned, Ginny noticed Draco get up and leave dinner with a furious look on his face.

"Wonder what's eating him," Colin commented, happily munching on treacle tart, the paper secure in his lap.

Knowing that the moment had been coming, but dreading it all the same, Ginny trudged to the Room of Requirement later that night to see if Draco was there.

They had not agreed on making the ever-changing room their permanent hiding place, but Ginny did not want to go all the way to the Ravenclaw staff room only to find out that he had been much closer the entire time. Bringing back thoughts of how the room looked earlier, Ginny found the same doorknob and entered the darkened room. He was there.

Ginny walked inside, and saw him looking pensively at the fire. It seemed to be a favorite hobby of his. Whenever he was troubled he seemed to find some kind of solace in watching the flames jump and snap at each other – it must have been a comfort to know that something else had a more chaotic existence than him.

Situating herself on the opposite side of the mantelpiece from him, Ginny tried to think of something to say. He was angry – he was always angry – and he probably suspected her of giving up his secrets to Hermione and the rest of the trio. Not that he had really told her anything, Ginny thought with mild irritation. There was also that nagging image in the back of her mind of the two of them sitting so close only hours before.

"I hope your chat at dinner had you rested up for what we'll be doing tonight."

"I thought we were supposed to trust each other," Ginny said calmly. "Jumping to conclusions isn't exactly a vote of confidence."

"And you expect me to believe that I wasn't the interesting topic of your conversation?" Draco's tone was unbelieving.

"No," Ginny conceded. "We _were_ talking about you. But I couldn't do anything about it. Hermione's subscribed to a bunch of newspapers and read the article. If you were watching carefully, you would have seen that I was giving it back to her."

Draco rolled his eyes in an undignified manner, some of his anger fading after listening to Ginny's matter-of-fact honesty. "How could I forget? You've got your own copy."

Ginny only patted her pocket.

They stood in silence for a time.

Then, "What are we doing tonight?" Ginny asked.

Draco seemed to have to suppress swelling with excitement. His eyes blazed with the thrill of a plan that he had concocted in his Defense class. He could care less about whatever agenda Packard had. The Prefect meeting had changed his mind about lying low for a spell. If the woman wanted to be difficult, then he could play at that also. He looked at Ginny and wondered if she was up to the challenge he had in store. He had no idea if the goody-goody had ever done something of the nature he was about to inform her of, and Ginny only seemed to have a will of her own against him; the only reason for that being because she was usually too furious with him or too flustered by his actions to be coy. But she would have to do.

"We're sneaking into the library and taking the book."

Ginny's eyes narrowed.

"You told me to inform you before I did anything. That's what I'm doing."

Ginny was not appeased.

"Prefects will be patrolling all over the school."

"During the Prefect meeting today, Packard said that since it's the beginning of the year, she'll be going around with the new prefects and teaching them the ropes."

"Professor Packard is going to be on patrol tonight?" Ginny asked incredulously.

Draco only nodded, the intense glint in his eye deepening.

The redhead eyed him with the beginnings of anxiety.

"D'you have a _plan_?"

"Of course," he said dangerously. "Don't get caught."

Ginny looked at him blandly.

"This should be interesting."

"What are you getting up to tonight, Ron?" Ginny asked as she fell into place next to him on the sofa. "Well, besides making sure that Hermione's not keeping your nose too close to the grindstone."

Ron grunted with unappreciation at Ginny's mocking. A few textbooks that he needed for homework and some that he didn't were before him on the table.

"Can you believe that the year's only just begun and Hermione's already ordering me to study for N.E.W.T.s?"

"You can't blame her," Ginny said, defending her, "In your OWL year, you and Harry hardly studied until almost the last minute. These are ten times more important than OWLs."

Ron only grunted. "I've only heard that about ten times."

"Why isn't she here to 'oversee' you? I know that Hermione likes to keep an eye on you."

Ron gave Ginny another sour look. "Hermione and Harry are off at the library stealing all of the NEWT preparation books from all of the other seventh-years. She needed Harry to help lug the stuff back here, and I'm on probation, so I have to stay behind."

"Probation?" Ginny asked her brother.

He nodded. "I didn't make up my schedule like I was supposed to."

"I find it hard to believe that Harry did," Ginny admitted. "He's just as much a slacker as you are."

"Hey, we're not slackers! And Harry ran off to the library before Hermione could get around to asking him about his own schedule."

"So I suppose it's going to be another all-nighter hitting the books?" Ginny asked.

Ron shrugged. "I guess so."

Ginny patted him on the back. "How sad for you."

Ron put his quill on the wooden table and looked at Ginny suspiciously.

"Why? Have you got a hot date or something? Who is it, then?"

Ginny only grinned. "Wouldn't _you_ like to know?"

"Don't be annoying, Ginny; that's why I'm asking you."

"And I'm not saying a word."

"Well it's not like you can go anywhere," Ron informed his sister. "Hogsmeade visits don't begin for another month."

"I don't need Hogsmeade to get what I want," the seventh-year replied cryptically.

"Ginny!" gasped Ron, feeling very much scandalized.

Amused by the fact that Ron had no idea what she _really_ meant, Ginny began to laugh.

"Calm down, Ron – you don't know what I'm talking about."

"Damn right I do! It's not like, like…you know…like Hermione spends _all_ of her time in front of musty old books! We do…get up to other stuff. I know what you're thinking about, Ginny –" Ron sputtered, scandalized; he got even redder when Ginny laughed harder.

"You're so gullible, Ron. We're probably just going to nick a butterbeer or something," Ginny lied easily, feeling only the remotest twinge of guilt.

Ron sat up. "Where do you plan on nicking aforementioned butterbeer?"

"The same place you, Hermione and Harry got it from," Ginny shot back, reminding Ron that she had not yet forgotten about the clanking bag from the night before.

Ron scowled and returned to his books. "Whatever."

Satisfied that her brother was just going to be doing work for the night, and that she had properly befuddled him, Ginny got up and headed for her room.

"Don't get up to anything you shouldn't, Ginny!" Ron called after her. "Or I'll tell Mum on you!"

About forty-five minutes later, Ginny decided that she was ready to emerge and make her thieving debut.

She had changed into darker, more comfortable clothes in the event that she would be forced to run if she were caught – and Ginny was sure that she would be.

Creeping down the stairs, Ginny peeked ahead of her to see if anyone was still in the Common Room.

'Blissfully empty,' she noted.

However, when she passed by the same chair Ron had been in earlier, she saw that he was still there, only sleeping. Ginny crouched next to him and smiled a little; Ron's low, soft snores proved that he had been in that state for awhile, and would probably not get up for another long while. Patting him benevolently on the head, Ginny rose from her crouch and looked momentarily at his finished schedule.

'Poor Ron,' she thought, with a hint of a smirk.

The only days that he had free were Thursday and Friday afternoons, and of course weekends. Ginny even saw that some of the Saturdays and Sundays that had blobs of color in them saying things like: Potions Revision, 2:00. Realizing with relief that Hermione would be out of Hogwarts by the time that she would be taking her own N.E.W.T.s, Ginny opened the portrait into the dark, desolate halls to meet Draco.

'He'd better be right where he said he'd be,' Ginny thought worriedly.

Every time the two of them tried to meet up in the night, it had been a hassle, so Draco decided that it would be best for Ginny to return to her Common Room and meet him in the library later. In the meantime, Draco hid out inside the library. The only problem would be that he would still be in his uniform – but that would not matter if they were not caught; Ginny would be the only one to see it. The best part of the plan, Ginny thought, making her way closer to the room, was that Draco could open the doors for her, and not risk Ginny making a lot of noise. As well kept as Filch kept the castle, Draco reckoned that Filch purposely left the library doors un-oiled and creaky to defer any students from sneaking in.

When she reached the double doors, Ginny nervously checked and double checked her watch to see if the appointed time that Draco was to open the doors had come. She peeked a few times through the round windows, but all she could see was the inky black of the night. It was terribly unnerving just standing out in the open. If any prefect should happen to patrol by…

"Hurry up, Weasley," a sharp whisper sounded from behind her back.

Ginny seized up, startled, and then met the cool gray eyes of Draco Malfoy.

"Come _on_," he repeated.

Ginny nodded, looked once more into the empty, torch-lit halls, and crept inside.

The doors shut with a dull thud, causing a deep echo to sound throughout the room.

Draco dusted a piece of imaginary lint off of his shoulder and eyed Ginny by almost nonexistent light.

"At least you're on time for something." He finished primping. "Fine; let's go." He began to walk off, but stopped when Ginny called after him.

"Hang on," she said in a lower voice than he had spoken in. "My eyes have to adjust to the light a bit. I can barely see anything."

When looking through the small windows, Ginny thought that there was no light at all in the library. On entering, she noticed that in the last row of books there were a few slanted rays of moonlight spilling in, though it didn't do much.

She wanted to sit down on one of the wooden chairs propped upside down on the various tables, but was afraid of the noise that might result. Instead, she fidgeted around on her feet while waiting to get accustomed to the dark.

"So…" she said, trying to make small talk. "Was it very difficult to stay here without anyone noticing you?"

Ginny couldn't yet see his eyes, but she was sure that he was rolling them by the tone of his response.

"If I had gotten noticed, I wouldn't be here right now. But, no, it wasn't so hard. I just stayed as much to myself as possible so that no one would notice me. Maybe this should have been _your_ job, Weasley."

Ginny refrained from hitting him – mostly because she didn't know where his face was in the dark.

"Let's go, then," she said instead, fighting back immense irritation.

As they made their way through the various aisles and shelves, the unease that had abated in Ginny's nerves began to rise again. The closer to the Restricted Section they came, the quicker Draco began to walk. He could barely contain his excitement at doing something against Packard that he paid no mind to the clicking of his school shoes on the floor.

"We're close," he whispered to Ginny, looking over her shoulder to meet her eyes.

Although he was not purposely trying to be comforting, the steadfast look in Draco's eyes did just that to Ginny. She nodded and crept closer to him, wanting to feel as confident as he did.

When the sign that read 'Restricted Section loomed in front of them in Madam Pince's stern calligraphy, they ventured inside.

"Where should we begin…?" Ginny asked, rolling her wrists around. She took a look down the aisle and almost gasped. It was huge! There was no way that they could find the book without risking the light of one of their wands; and even then, how would they be able to cover it all?

But Draco was not deterred. "At the beginning, Weasley. _Lumos_. The name of the book is _Disguises, Lies, and Curses_. The author is Virgil Tonningsham – look for the letter't'. Not so hard, is it?"

For the next twenty minutes the pair sifted through the dense archives and tombs piled on top of each other. As organized as Madame Pince claimed to be, there were authors from the beginning of the alphabet at the middle, and authors from the end of the alphabet at the beginning. More than once Draco or Ginny would spy a book with a surname of't', just to discover that the next book in line belonged to the 'h's.

"We're never going to find it, Malfoy. I think it's purposely been hidden deep into the Library just to annoy us."

Ginny quietly pushed a dust ridden tome back into place and crossed her arms.

"Maybe we should just wait until tomorrow and see if we get permission from Packard."

Draco's face looked more sinister by the faint glow of his wand light.

"I refuse to ask her for anything."

"_You_ aren't doing any of the asking. I am. And I think that bumbling around in the dark is stupid," Ginny argued. "We've been here for at least half an hour – something should have turned up by now. Why don't we just go to bed –?"

Draco stared at Ginny with utter disgust. "It figures that simply browsing through a library would be too much for the Littlest Weasley. Go on, then. _I'm_ staying here until I find it." He turned away from her and peered at another almost indecipherable title. "My apologies for keeping you up past your bedtime."

Ginny remained silent for a moment and then sighed gustily. She continued to make her way down the aisle and went on the opposite side of the bookshelf that Draco was on. Ginny eyed Draco between the slits of the books while continuing her search at the same time.

"Where did you hear of this book in the first place?" asked Ginny curiously. It was hardly the time or place to ask questions, but Ginny figured that even talking to Draco was better than continuing on in the brooding monotony that the whole night had been so far.

"My father," Draco answered in clipped tones.

"Your father gives you books on the Dark Arts?" Ginny badgered unbelievingly. It was something that she would have assumed anyway, but to hear it straight from Draco's mouth was something else.

"He didn't give me this one, I found it," replied Draco distantly.

'Not _this_ one, but surely others,' Ginny thought accusatorily.

"You snoop through your father's things?" she asked instead. "I don't know if I could do that, myself."

At that question Draco paused in his perusal and met Ginny's ever-curious brown eyes.

"Why are you so shocked, Weasley?" he asked the Gryffindor, silver eyes taunting. "Because I dared to look through my father's things? Or because I dared to look through Lucius Malfoy the Death Eater's things?"

Draco held Ginny's eyes and dared her to answer his question. But Ginny backed down.

Looking once more at the bookcase until she could feel Draco's eyes move away from her, Ginny wondered about what childhood in Malfoy Mansion must be like. Most kids pretended to be adventurers in their house: they would search nooks and crannies that had been long forgotten by their parents, and probably find something relatively exciting. Malfoy children discovered books on the Dark Arts.

'That's a sad thing,' Ginny admitted. Then she shook her head; she had no time for sympathies with Malfoys. 'Se, Sp., Sv, Sw., Te, Ten., To. …_To_. !'

"Draco!" she said loudly, deliriously excited over her finding.

But when Draco looked up to face Ginny, he saw her quickly turn her head away from him, and then back again.

"_Did you hear that?_" she whispered suddenly.

She could have sworn that she heard a dull thud sound somewhere in the library.

The blond boy glared at her, but his eyebrow rose at the use of his first name.

"No, I didn't hear anything. Go lie under your covers if you're afraid of the dark." Ginny listened for any more sounds, but she heard nothing. She shook her head once more.

"Malfoy!" she repeated quietly.

This time Draco looked furious, and he opened his mouth to give her a scathing reprimand for continually bothering him, but the sound of footsteps stopped him.

He paused at the same time Ginny did and looked at her once more, reevaluating what she asked him once more. She wanted to ask him what the sound meant, but he answered for her before she spoke.

"Shit," he cursed. "Someone's here."

Ginny paled with fear, but her mind continued to work.

"But we haven't got the book! We're so close! Look!" she insisted, holding up a book, "I just found the To.'s, so it's somewhere near here…"

"Let's go," Draco insisted. "We'll come back another time."

"If we could just have another two minutes…!"

Draco peered at Ginny with eyes of slate through the bookshelf.

"Get your bloody priorities straight, Weasley! Do you want to get caught?" he whispered harshly.

The sound of dull steps continued on toward them. Ginny shook her head emphatically.

"Then let's get the hell out of here!"

At the sound of an even closer thud, Draco grabbed Ginny's hand and yanked her toward him. At the same time, Ginny been tried to force the book back into place: when Draco jerked her, the book fell with a horrible thump on the floor. Ginny's body was pressed into Draco's, and she could see a flash of panic and fury intermingled in his eyes.

"You bloody fool!" she knew he wanted to declare, but he dare not risk getting heard. With more insistence, the steps that had halted at the sound of the fallen book began to pick up in speed.

Draco began to run. Cursing almost inaudibly, he remembered to call his wand light off.

At first, he had to pull Ginny after him, but soon she ran of her own accord but soon the muffled steps of her rubber soles were running at the same rate as the clips of his black shoes. Ginny's heart was beating so fast that she swore the person chasing them could hear it, and that's how they knew where she and Draco were. Then Ginny grabbed her arm out of Draco's grasp and pointed it at his feet.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" he said hollowly.

"_Silencio_," Ginny whispered to Draco's shoes. Understanding dawned in his eyes and they continued to twist their way back up to the entrance of the library, with no more telltale clippings of Draco's shoes, Ginny's hand making its way back to Draco's.

After what seemed like ages, but was really only the span of a few moments, Ginny spied the dim torchlight of the halls through the front doors of the library.

Pushing through them as quietly but quickly as possible, Draco and Ginny left the library.

Soon they were faced with another problem.

Ginny was panting with something more akin to fright than exertion; her hand was shaking inside of Draco's, but she was too out of it to remember that she vowed never to let anyone see her fear.

"We've got to find a place to hide…" Draco whispered. "We're right out in the open. Any prefect could find us right here."

Ginny nodded and began to head off in the direction of a classroom. The pair ran to the closest classroom, but it was locked – and neither wanted to risk using his wand. After making their way steadily down the hall, they eventually found an unlocked one and pulled it open. Draco hurriedly ushered Ginny inside, closed it, and looked through the small window to the outside corridors.

After a moment of nothing happening, when he felt the tension begin to ease, and felt it was safe enough to speak he let out a long breath.

"That was too fucking close…"

Ginny nodded in agreement.

"If this room had been locked, we could have just found a good broom closet," she told him, beginning to regain some of her own composure.

Draco smirked at her and Ginny belatedly understood the implications of what someone meant when the wanted to find a 'good broom closet'.

"Indeed."

Ginny froze.

Draco had not spoken.

Turning around, Ginny looked up to the front of the classroom and saw a golden nameplate gleaming in the dark. It was all she could do to suppress a gasp. She could feel Draco tense completely beside her.

"Good evening, Ms. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy."

They said nothing.

"I bid you good evening. What do you say in return?"

Draco's body was taut and strained as he paused, and then gave a curt bow. Ginny only continued to stare at the figure sitting calmly in the dark. She could feel all of the blood rushing to her face as horror and surprise crept in. Draco cleared his throat and seemed hesitant to say a word. At last he gave a frozen glare at the figure and opened his mouth to speak.

"Good evening, Professor Packard."

That's it for now. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review!


	8. Eight

Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter, they were all really sweet. I smiled for at least five hours. Anyway! Let's chug on to the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I only own the plot and Packard.

_Miss Cellophane_

Draco's body was taut and strained as he paused, and then gave a curt bow. Ginny only continued to stare at the figure sitting calmly in the dark. She could feel all of the blood rushing to her face as horror and surprise crept in. Draco cleared his throat and seemed hesitant to say a word. At last he gave a frozen glare at the figure and opened his mouth to speak.

"Good evening, Professor Packard."

----------------------------------------

The classroom was dark and sinister without even a trace of moonlight. If there had been, Draco and Ginny might have been able to look at anything other than the tight-lipped and remotely eerie smile that Professor Packard gave them.

"Thank you. Was that so difficult, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco did not answer right away.

"No," he said, not taking his eyes off Packard for a moment.

Packard moved the plaque further up on her desk.

"No _what_, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked, without a hint of joviality this time. There was no smile on her face.

Ginny thought she could hear Draco's teeth grinding from where she was standing next to him.

"No _ma'am_," Draco scoffed.

The professor looked at Draco for a long moment. Then she turned her eyes onto Ginny.

"What _is_ difficult to understand is why the Head Boy is out of bed when he does not have patrol duty tonight. What's more is that a girl who is not even a prefect is with him. Anyone care to enlighten me?"

"It was my belief, Professor," said Draco, "that you would be guiding the younger prefects around tonight."

"While I hardly find it necessary to explain myself to you, Mr. Malfoy, it was evident that the prefects knew their own way around the castle without my help."

"I remember suggesting that to you during the meeting today," Draco pressed.

Ginny wondered with annoyance why Draco tried to interrogate Professor Packard. It was certainly not the time.

"And I remember informing you that I am the Prefect Advisor – not you. Whatever I see fit to do remains none of your concern, whether you are Head Boy or not. If I choose to leave the prefects to their own devices and grade papers in my own classroom, I will."

If looks could kill, Ginny wondered if Packard could survive Draco's death glare – ex-auror or not.

"Now I asked a question and I will have it answered. What are the two of you doing out of bed and in my office at this hour?" Professor Packard looked at her clock, but neither Draco nor Ginny uttered a word. "I don't have time trivialities! One of you will answer me or face suspension!"

Against her will Ginny began to quail under the Defense teacher's ire.

'What the hell am I going to do if mum or dad find out about this?' she thought anxiously. Ron was another story. Looking at Draco for some kind of answer Ginny saw with frustration that he was not looking back at her, but at their hands, which were still joined. Ginny looked quickly up at Packard and tried to yank her hand away from Draco's, but found that he wouldn't let go.

"What –"

"Fine," Draco snapped, glaring at Packard. He looked down at Ginny. "It's okay, you don't have to embarrass yourself; this is both of our faults." He looked back up. "Ginny and I were looking for someplace to be alone – together."

The silence that ensued could have drowned merpeople.

"_Pardon me_?" Packard said incredulously. Luckily, her question drowned out the sound of Ginny choking. Wasn't he able to think of anything better than that?

Draco held Ginny's hand in a vice-grip but loosened the pressure a little when the professor's eyes went down to look at their intertwined fingers. Giving Ginny the slightest warning squeeze, Draco began to stroke the outside of Ginny's hand very gently.

Ginny froze up.

"Relax," Draco ordered Ginny in a very quiet whisper.

Ginny reddened with something akin to embarrassment or anger; but with her frazzled emotions she could hardly sort one from the other. Trying to force the sensation of Draco's feather light caresses from her mind, Ginny tried as hard as she could to relax.

"Good," he whispered once more. His fingers moved to Ginny's palm and her eyes widened momentarily.

"What did you just say?" Packard demanded. Ginny was jolted out of her stupor and flushed.

Draco grinned. Ginny fought against a scowl at that. His smile was supposed to be charming, but his malice toward Packard only made it appear feral.

"I'm only telling Ginny to relax. She's a bit nervous – you see we haven't told anyone –"

"Do you expect me to believe that Ginny Weasley is…is…"

"Cavorting, escapading, fraternizing, cozy, chummy, in_volved_ with…" Draco said mindlessly.

"That's enough, Mr. Malfoy," said Packard sharply, returning to her original train of thought. She looked at Ginny. "Speak up, Ms. Weasley. Is this true?"

Ginny paused, and then cleared her throat.

"Yes…yes…it's true…We didn't mean to be out of our rooms…I mean we did…we were looking for privacy…We went to the library, but when we got there, someone was there, so we couldn't stay –"

"So you decided to use my room as a haven for your…_activities_?" the teacher demanded.

The silver-haired boy smirked. "We swear that we were going to keep it _strictly_ to light pets and subtle fondles…"

Ginny went white as a sheet.

"If I were in your position right now, Mr. Malfoy, I highly doubt that I would be so smug. You are a disgrace to the position of Head Boy, and if I thought that before, I am sure of it now. I have no…" she shook her head, seemingly filled with awe. "…I cannot think of what you may have said, or done, to lead Ms. Weasley to…become mixed up with you, but I must impress upon her that nothing good may come of it. And obviously with your smart mouth you think nothing of it. Continue on this road, Mr. Malfoy, and you may well find yourself stripped of your Head Boyship. Do you understand me?"

Draco gave Packard such a look of sheer disdain that Ginny thought that alone would land him in detention. "Yes, ma'am."

"Ms. Weasley…I understand that one's emotions…or rather one's hormones may lead one into temptation –" Draco barely suppressed a snort. "However there are plenty of other suitable persons to examine…"

Draco cleared his throat obnoxiously. "No, I don't think you've quite gotten the picture, Professor; Ginny Weasley and I are going out. She's my girlfriend." He looked at Ginny indulgently. "We're rather attached to each other." The blond said it with such a minimal amount of distaste that Ginny almost believed him herself.

Another eerie silence.

Professor Packard was rapidly blanching with horror, but reddening with Draco's audacity. It didn't do much for her complexion.

With pursed lips she eyed the pair beadily. "I'm sorry but I find that highly unbelievable. Ms. Weasley has far better options than the likes of you, Mr. Malfoy," she said bluntly.

"Ginny doesn't seem to think so."

The girl that was being spoken about squeezed Draco's hand painfully. 'How could he put those words in her mouth? She'd never be able to be comfortable in Defense class again!'

"It is hardly fitting," said the professor angrily.

Draco shrugged. "I think we _fit_ just fine."

Ginny had to interrupt at that. "This subject is rather…touchy for the both of us professor. We're sorry that we disrespected you by coming to this room, but I think that whatever road I choose for myself is exactly that – my choice."

At this point in time Professor Packard appeared to be literally boiling.

"And would your father agree?" asked the older woman slyly. "Arthur Weasley makes it a _point_ to fight against men such as Lucius Malfoy –"

"I am _not_ my father," Draco spat.

"– and all of his brethren," she continued. "The…union of the two of you will be seen as a disgrace; an abomination – and believe me, it will not be tolerated."

Ginny was aghast. It was understandable that any person would be utterly shocked upon seeing Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy together, and hearing that they had supposedly been involved for some time might well be coronary inducing. But Packard seemed to actually be taking personal offense to the relationship. She was giving Ginny tips on who to choose as a suitable boyfriend. What girl in their right mind wanted that?

It was mortifying.

Packard allowed for a short silence. "Now, I shall arrange your detentions. Both of you will have detentions three nights this week. I cannot watch you, and neither can any of other professors, as this week is a rather hectic. However, you will be due at Snape's office at precisely eight o'clock and one of the prefects shall govern over you." She scanned down a list in her drawer. "Gavin Wotright will do, I think."

Ginny's eyes went big and she spoke before thinking, "_Gavin_ _Wotright_?"

"Yes," said Packard slowly. "You must know him; I do believe that he is in your year. Do you have a problem? Because from the way that you have acted tonight it might be beneficial to have someone such as Mr. Wotright supervise your actions."

Ginny colored and then said nothing. Her hand was still gently encased in Draco's, and for a second she imagined that he might have given it a reassuring press.

"It is now almost one o'clock. Go to your respective dormitories – straight to them – and retire for the night. This was a disgrace; I honestly expected more of you, Ms. Weasley." Packard looked at Draco and then continued. "Don't let this happen again. You are dismissed."

Draco inclined his head sardonically and then, still taking Ginny by the hand led her out. Ginny could feel Packard's eyes on them even as they shut the door.

Once out of the room, Ginny practically dragged Draco down the hall to a shadowed nook and then rested her back against it.

"That was a _nightmare_," she whispered.

"That woman is a nightmare," Draco amended. It hadn't passed his notice that Packard did not state that she did not think he was better than skulking around at night. "What an utter _cow_ she is." Draco released Ginny's hand and then leaned against the stone walls beside her. "How _dare_ she try and dictate what actions I take. She's an old, prejudiced, nosy wench who can't stand the fact that we're involved."

Firelight from the torch a few feet away glowed languidly onto his pale features, putting half his face in shadow. He looked menacing and sensual at the same time, but Ginny was forced to put those thoughts on the back burner of her mind. As she was already furious with him, it was hardly difficult.

She snorted. "We're not involved; and it doesn't sound very different to me than someone I know. Professor Packard is not prejudiced – we just about gave her the shock of her life."

Draco looked at Ginny with something resembling disgust. "Do you defend her for all that she said to you? She practically called you a disgrace to your family and your friends, and all you did was stand in that room and lap it up. I understand that the truth would hardly surprise you, Weasley, but for Merlin's sake, at least have some self-respect."

"You know what, Malfoy? The truth isn't surprising; so I find myself standing here wondering why you took so much offense when she insinuated that your father was a Death Eater when you've known that all your life."

Draco gave Ginny a chilling stare. "Then why help, Weasley? My father's a Death Eater, you say? You think you know so much about what's going on and you're feeling generous by lending me a helping hand? Keep in mind that I just saved our _skins_ back there while you stood in all of your virtuous silence and let _me_ take the slack."

Ginny laughed bitingly. "Don't try and blame me for the fact that she tore you down in that room. You've been itching to pick a fight with her since this afternoon and saw an opportune time. Because I've got the sense Merlin gave chickens to know that shutting up has its benefits sometime, and just because you can't _stand_ to let someone get the better of your pride does not make you a sickle better than me."

Draco sneered.

"Go on and laugh Malfoy," Ginny said, getting angrier by the minute. "That's what you do best. When you're defeated, just give a delusional little laugh and maybe no one will see that you're a sodding failure who convinced a Weasley to help him. Never forget that you came to _me_, Malfoy. You seem to have the memory of a bloody sieve and are all too willing to forget that. But let's make a deal, alright? Push all of your failure onto me one more time and you'll find that it's a lot harder to dig your father out of Azkaban when only one person is shoveling, because I won't be there to help."

The hall was bitingly silent and Ginny knew that at any moment Packard or anyone else could come in their direction and hear them arguing. But the adrenaline from her anger and running from the library, and from just plain exhaustion with everything distracted her from that. She watched as the pale-haired boy before her scrutinized her every movement. She knew that she might have been able to help more with Packard, but the fact that Packard disrespected the Malfoy name was due to Draco's goading, and Ginny would be damned if he blamed her for it.

"Just tell me one thing, Weasley."

Ginny sighed agitatedly. "Ask away."

"Why are you doing this? You obviously can't stand to be near me for any long period of time; and neither can I. I find myself wanting to strangle the first person that I see after dealing with you. So why risk being around the big-bad Malfoy."

Ginny wondered if she should tell Draco about her thirst to prove herself to her brother. That she was worthy of being close to Ron once again because she could keep up with him. But she admitted to herself that it was hardly something Draco would be able to understand. And so she said simply, "For me. I've got my own interests invested in this, and that's all you need to know."

He scoffed; from his point of view Ginny's answer was shoddy. "Sure; all you're doing is having fun at my expense."

"Fun?!" she exclaimed in a harsh whisper. "When she takes points away from us tomorrow, the rest of Gryffindor is going to wonder who lost them for the house. It'll get out that I did – that we did. Merlin, and then if it gets out that you and I are 'together'…"

"Ashamed of me, Weasley?"

Ginny glared at him. "See if you think this is funny when my brother comes after you."

"He won't know that I'm your mystery boyfriend," Draco said, the last word rolling off his tongue like a curse. "Packard takes so much personal offense that you're 'dating' a Slytherin – Draco Malfoy no less – that I highly doubt she'll say it's me. And anyway, maybe it's a good thing that I'm your boyfriend, Weasley. You've got a nice little alibi for any of your absences now – and there will be plenty of those," Draco rushed on when he saw Ginny open her mouth to speak.

"He'll find out," she said, full of certainty.

"I can handle him," Draco retorted. He thought for a moment. "What we _really_ need to work on now is getting that book – and getting you some backbone." He looked at Ginny condescendingly.

"Don't entertain the thought that I'm intimidated by you for a second, Malfoy," insisted Ginny.

"Not with me," Draco said. "With authority figures. It was disgusting the way you kowtowed to her. Not only is she wholly undeserving of such treatment –"

"Oh! I had forgotten I bow down to _you_, Master Malfoy."

"Correct. And the…_simpering_ you displayed in that room was frankly disgusting, Weasley." He looked at her seriously. "If we're to get through all of this, I won't be surprised if we have another run-in with a professor or two. But you must maintain your composure – there is no other option. So if you can stand to tarnish your precious good-girl image and take a bit less crap from other people we might come to the end of this all the more unscathed. It all starts with the image, the attitude. Everything is a façade, Weasley. Really, it's just a competition to see who's got the best one – and then to try and tear it down. And Malfoys never lose – never; and we make it a rule never to associate anyone who does."

Draco's eyes were as steely as always, and Ginny registered that all of the handholding was just for show. He cared nothing for her or her well being. Draco was out for himself and his family, first and foremost, and Ginny remembered that she was pretty much a means to his end. The thought she had to console herself with was that she had her own game to play.

Ginny inclined her hand a little way. "I'll keep that in mind." He nodded. "Although there is something that _you_ don't realize, Malfoy: the innocents are the last to be suspected; and the more people think that I'm totally oblivious and unsuspecting, the more I'll find out. For now I'll deal with Packard _my_ way. I think it's rather effective, actually."

"Fine," said Draco simply, always one to have the last word. He stared down at Ginny for a moment, an indiscernible look in his eyes. Then he pulled out his wand and gave it a smooth wave. A white rose popped out of it. "Our first mission might not have been completed, or even partially successful (Ginny was a bit put out about that; they had discovered the location of the book and she thought that was saying something) but we came through it. That is cause enough for this, Weasley." Looking her deeply in the eye he placed it in her hand and folded it closed.

Ginny couldn't help the snort that came out. "You think you're so smooth, don't you, Malfoy. 'A rose for the lady'," she said laughingly.

"I know I'm smooth, Weasley. And you're hardly a lady," he said, looking suddenly thoughtful. "You're something much different – a simperer maybe –"

"That's not even a word," Ginny shot back.

"But somehow I manage to make it sound good, right?" Draco smirked when he saw Ginny roll her eyes.

Ginny glanced at Draco and then looked away. They stood that way for a few minutes trying to make sense of everything that had just been said. They still had a long way to go – and they had only just begun.

After a good five minutes Draco stood up from the wall.

"It's time for little weasels to go to bed. We all know how much they need their beauty sleep. How very much," he repeated.

"Shut…shut up," Ginny said yawning. She stopped leaning against the wall. "I'll see you tomorrow in detention?" she asked.

"Unfortunately," he said, starting to walk off.

Ginny nodded and in the awkwardness of the moment waved goodbye. Draco's face was now completely in shadow, but the smirk on his face was all too evident.

"Goodnight, Weasel."

----------------------------------------

The next day Ginny woke up feeling extremely groggy. Heaving herself to her feet after lolling in bed for at least ten extra minutes, she took a shower and got dressed.

Putting on her shoes, she finally allowed herself to think of what had transpired the night before. It was almost unreal to think that so much could have happened in such a short amount of time. She and Draco were really into the thick of things and now she had to keep on her guard around Packard wherever she went.

Going down the main staircase to meet Colin in the Great Hall for breakfast, Ginny understood that Packard probably still liked her more than Draco – there was no question of that; but the woman was immensely depressed in her. Thinking about it even more, Ginny didn't want to defend Draco, but it _was_ rather audacious of the older woman to tell Ginny whom to date. It was none of her business. If she wanted to give a bit of advice that was fine; but to be so blatantly disparaging of Ginny and then bring Arthur Weasley's opinion into the matter was highly unnecessary. Ginny had a dark feeling that it was not the last she would hear of Professor Packard either.

With a start, Ginny also remembered that she had asked the former auror for the book that she and Draco tried to nick the day before. Packard had pretty much promised to give it to Ginny, but would she live up to that?

The redhead almost pleaded sick through breakfast, there were so many things going through her mind. Ron, Harry, and shockingly Hermione had seemingly overslept, and had not come into the Great Hall for breakfast even by the time Ginny and Colin were leaving for class. They must have had a late night studying…

"Ginny!" Colin exclaimed dropping a few of his books.

"Oh, sorry," said the redhead absently, helping her friend to pick up the texts. Hadn't Ron told her just the night before that Harry and Hermione were in the library picking up books? Ginny hadn't gone to there until much later in the night, but she had not heard the older girl come up to bed by the time she left. Were Harry and Hermione in the library at the same time as Draco? After all, Draco had waited there until much later.

Working on autopilot during her class, unmindful of the odd looks Colin sent her way, Ginny realized how lucky she and Draco were that neither the raven-haired boy nor the Head Girl had come upon them the night before. It was beyond lucky…it was…almost unnatural. Ginny never had such good luck, and rather than making her exited it made her feel…watchful. Whenever her luck had seemed go right it always eventually veered left…

"Ginny? Where are you going?!"

She snapped out of her thoughts to see Colin's worried face in front of her.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked. "You didn't pay a whit of attention to what Binns said all class, did you?"

Ginny grinned guilelessly. "Do I ever?"

Colin only gave her a stern look. "Don't try to change the subject. You're not as good at it as you think."

"No, you're just all together too suspicious of everything, Colin," Ginny insisted. She had to keep her mind off of the case for the time being or someone would discover that something was up. "Oh, I've got to go up to get books for our next class…what've we got now?"

The blond rolled his eyes. "We've got break now, Ginny." He walked along to the Entrance Hall. "I swear, if your head was further in the clouds I'd ask you for tomorrow's weather." He turned to see how Ginny was taking it – she would have usually insulted him by then, but her mind was, yet again, elsewhere.

"Sorry, Col, I've got to go do something really quickly." It was the optimal time to go and get the book from Packard – if she was still willing to get it. Packard probably had a class right then, and she couldn't outright refuse Ginny the book and cause a scene, because at this point, Ginny wanted the book as badly as Draco and would do anything to get it.

"And what's that?" asked Colin exasperatedly. "You never miss this break – what's so important?"

Ginny adopted what she hoped was a humble, despairing look on her face. "I need to ask her a quick question about the homework – I'm really not getting it, and I wanted to ask for an extension."

Colin still looked unconvinced; with an internal grumble Ginny told herself silently that he was altogether too suspicious for his own good.

"It won't take me long at all. So if she says yes I'll come outside and you can help me with it. Deal?" she asked sticking her hand out.

Colin sighed.

"Deal."

With an inward squeal, Ginny turned and headed for the Defense room. However, by the time Ginny was only a few paces from the room she began to feel apprehensive. It seemed a bit precocious to ask something of the woman when she had been reamed out by her only the night before.

Ginny took a quick peek in the small window of the door to the class and almost fainted; it was the seventh-year N.E.W.T. class. She would see her brother, but she would also see Draco.

Ginny trudged forward, dreading having to open the door and face that woman again. But she had to. Knocking politely, there was a "come in" and Ginny turned the knob and pushed. She saw quick surprise flash over Ron's face and stiffly made her way to the front of the room.

"Erm, Professor," she said quietly, 'This is awful,' she thought, "I'm very sorry for…intruding like this…"

"Get on with it, Ms. Weasley."

"Of course, sorry. I can't come at any other time to get the permission slip from you for the library…I haven't got a class right now, so I thought that I could…"

Packard eyed Ginny for a second.

"I understand. Please stand back while I write a note to Madam Pince." Ginny nodded and followed orders.

Packard took out a piece of fresh parchment and began writing: _I, Professor A. Packard give Ginny Weasley permission to check out…_

"_Ginny_!"

The redhead growled and tried to ignore the sound.

"_Pssst! Ginny!_" whispered Ron's voice urgently.

Ginny half-turned to glare at Ron and gestured at Professor Packard whose head was facing down as she scribbled.

Who did he think he was fooling? Everyone in the room could hear him. Ron waved his hand impatiently.

"_Ginny_!"

"_What?!_" she mouthed silently. If Packard decided to go back on her word and throw the slip away because Ginny was disrupting her class, Ginny would maim her brother.

Ron grinned mischievously.

"How was that hot date you told me about last night?" he whispered loudly.

Ginny stood deathly still.

'Oh no.'

From the corner of her eye she could see Professor Packard's quill halt for a second as she processed what Ron said, and then begin again. Ginny saw Draco's surprised but grinning face in the crowd and turned away quickly.

Packard sat up slowly and held the parchment in her hand. She stared at Ginny shrewdly.

"Take care with this, Ms. Weasley. Don't let it get into irresponsible hands."

With a burning face – not from embarrassment, but fury directed at Ron – Ginny took the slip, said a polite thank you and started for the door.

Passing by Ron, she wondered if she should knock him over the head, but decided not to try her luck. Avoiding Draco's laughing eyes at all cost, Ginny left the room and headed outside where Colin was waiting. She made sure to put the bag in her rucksack though, so as to avoid any questions about the book she was carrying. No one would know about it save Packard, Ginny, and Draco.

----------------------------------------

A few hours later found Ginny nose deep in reading.

Satisfied with her victory of finally getting _Disguises, Lies, and Curses_, she had decided to use part of her lunch to go to the library and find the other books that Draco had listed. _Impressive and Imperial Knowledge Worthy of a King_ by Martin Boot was a rather slim book, even though its heading dictated that it had 'All One Needed to Know about the Imperious'. Ginny found more accounts of what had happened to people under the Imperius than ways to detect it, but she was hoping that Draco would be able to answer whatever she didn't know.

_Prophets of the Past_ by Ingrid Bridle was a disgustingly large tome that Ginny knew she would never be able to sift through without Draco's help, so she put that aside immediately. _The Boggling Book of Mind Control_ by Dizzy Shepherd was last on her list and difficult to find, because whenever Ginny had come close to it a voice seemed to whisper to her that it wasn't the book she wanted – obvious effects of the book.

Although she didn't want to sound like Hermione, Ginny had to admit that _The...Book of Mind Control_ was rather fascinating. It delved into the Imperius Curse and was helpful with giving more factual text than Boot's book. It also talked about other things to do with the mind like psychology, and gave formulas for potions and incantations for hexes that would allow the caster to pretty much make someone else do what they wanted.

Ginny saw a few that would have liked to use on Ron and stored them away for further notice.

She also wrote down a few notes from the book that might interest Draco. Draco believed that Mr. Tinelle had been under the Imperius, which is why so many of the books he "assigned" Ginny were on that particular curse. If they could find some information – any information that not many people knew of – it might help suspicion fall away from Lucius Malfoy's. Ginny still had minor issues with that, as she wasn't completely sure that Draco's father _hadn't_ put the Unforgivable on Mr. Tinelle. But those woes were for another time.

What Ginny really needed, she thought, was a book she could use to keep her notes in. But the first Hogsmeade visit wasn't for a while yet and she was stuck with what she had.

After twenty more minutes of reading an especially depressing case about a witch who killed her husband after her secret lover put her under the Imperius, Ginny decided to take a crack at the dismayingly large book, _Prophets of the Past_. Ingrid Bridle was some kind of secretary for the _Daily Prophet_ and over the years she had managed to compile a massive index of every _Daily Prophet_ that had ever come out.

'And if this is only one volume of Ingrid Bridle's series, I don't know what I'm going to do…' Ginny thought to herself.

She hadn't known that the book was so massive, or she wouldn't have tried to pull it off the bookcase like she did. She ended up dropping it on the floor and causing a whirl of dust to float up. Madam Pince shot her a nasty look for it; and if Ginny had to repeat the process she would probably be thrown out.

Ginny turned over the heavy cover and coughed a bit as another cloud settled in the air momentarily. Looking on the inside flap and then the first few pages the redhead was aghast to see that there was no index. There was no way that Draco's efforts combined with her own would allow them to read the whole thing before the end of the year; as soon as Ginny turned to the back, another section popped up.

Forgetting that she would probably get smudges on her face from doing so, Ginny threw her forehead upon the open page.

"All I'm asking for is information on Mr. Tinelle. What more do I have to do?"

Suddenly a whirring sensation tickled Ginny's head and she lifted it, only to see the pages rapidly turning. When it stopped she saw the headline: **WIZARD TORTURES AND KILLS FAMILY OF MUGGLES**. That was the last article that had come out about Mr. Tinelle. Feeling a twinge of excitement growing inside, Ginny glanced at Madam Pince and then back at the book.

"The earliest article on Mr. Tinelle," she whispered, not really understanding why she was being so quiet. Within a moment, the pages flipped to an article many years before. Ginny could see the name 'Alfred Tinelle' spotted in random places all over it. "This is amazing…" she said to herself. With a grin she added, "_I_ am amazing…and Malfoy said that I wasn't good for anything!"

Leaving the other three books on the table Ginny walked into an empty section of the library, holding _Disguises, Lies, and Curses_ under her robes. She wanted to shrink it and put it into her pocket so that if anything might happen to her bag no one would notice. It was paranoid, she admitted to herself, but a little paranoia never did anyone harm.

With more exuberance than she had possessed a few minutes earlier, Ginny walked up to the front desk and requested to take out the three books.

"And what do you plan to do with them?" asked Madam Pince shrewdly.

"Read them," Ginny said blankly.

The librarian nodded sternly. "Do not bring them back with any pages missing, torn, or sullied. I expect them to return to me on time. Here is your slip."

Ginny nodded and picked up the two books. Wait, two…

"Excuse me," Ginny said to Madam Pince, "but I had three books –"

"Yes, that's right; but the last one, _Prophets of the Past_ is a Reference Book, therefore you may not check it out. If you want to read it, you must do so here."

Ginny frowned. "But I thought that –"

"Those are the rules, they are unchangeable. Please return _Prophets of the Past_ to its proper shelf. Thank you!" said Madam Pince, and that was the end of the conversation.

Scowling and muttering under her breath Ginny heaved the books into her arms and turned around. 'Why do they have to be so bloody heavy?' she asked, her arms sagging under the weight. If she didn't reach a table soon she just might…

"Ah!"

…drop them.

"Oh! Sorry, I'm really sorry; they were really heavy," Ginny tried to explain as she bent down to pick them up. But the heaviest of them, the one she had to return was not on the floor.

"Is _this_ what you're looking for?"

Ginny looked up; she swallowed. "Yes, yes it is, Professor Packard. Thanks for getting it…I…" she was holding out her hand to receive it but the woman would not give it back.

"This is a very interesting book, Ms. Weasley. I didn't know that you were interested in journalism."

Ginny blinked. "Well it's as I told you before; my friend Luna's father is editor for _The Quibbler_. They're having a bit of trouble finding anything interesting for next month's issue, so I thought I'd…you know…"

"Read up on the competition? Some might call that reprehensible, maybe even cheating." The mousy-haired auror's voice was toneless so it was difficult for Ginny to discern whether Packard was joking or not. Instead she fixed a sheepish look on her face.

"I'm just trying to help out."

That seemed to do the trick as Packard's face released a small smile. "Just like your father; he's always been one to lend out a helping hand, even when he didn't have the means. And he's never failed in that respect – no not in my eyes." Packard's eyes were shining. "There was one time where I thought that maybe he was going down the wrong path…but people do that sometimes, of course, Ms. Weasley. But before I knew it he righted himself again. Your father is a good man."

Ginny nodded, feeling a bit taken aback. Was Packard trying to use her father as a metaphor not to spend time with Draco?

"Yes," she said instead. "I know he is." She glanced at her watch. "But I've really got to be going, I need to return this book – it's a Reference Book, you see, so I can't take it out."

"Of course," said Packard, finally handing _Prophets of the Past_ over to Ginny. The redhead summoned up a small smile and turned to put it on a shelf – any shelf, just so that she could get away from her teacher. "See you in class, Ms. Weasley."

Ginny put her bag on her back and nodded. "Right."

Leaving from the Library Ginny ran back to her room quickly to stash the books until further notice. She thought that maybe she and Draco would be able to pore through them that night, but they had detention. Either they could meet in the Room of Requirement during the day or they would have to schedule some late night meetings. They would also have to find a better room as it took forever and a day to get to the secret Ravenclaw staffroom. Ginny wondered as she headed to her next class if Draco would ever find the Slytherin and Gryffindor staffrooms; it would be wonderful if they could because few – if any at all – knew about it and they would be able to have some privacy.

Ginny's mind was whirring with all kinds of thoughts; not to mention that first and foremost she was on the hunt for Ron. If Packard thought that Ginny was having too much fun with Draco, then she might start to take a disliking to Ginny.

The redhead hoped that as an auror Packard would be more objective to student relationships, but she seemed to truly despise Draco so much that Ginny might become guilty through association.

----------------------------------------

The rest of the day was uneventful, in Defense Packard had made sure to remind Ginny about her detention that night. Although she had completely forgotten to do so in the morning, Ginny went to check the House Points. With immeasurable relief she saw that nothing was taken from Gryffindor, but there were ten points missing from Slytherin. Ginny hoped that it had been taken at some point during the day and not by Packard. If the woman had taken from Slytherin and not Gryffindor it would only serve to fuel Draco's hate for the woman.

Sitting down in her usual seat at the table Ginny listened as Colin told Neville about "how weird Ginny had been the whole day".

"I was not!" Ginny protested. "I've been really busy, you know; it's madness."

"It's madness that your favorite hangout is the library now. For Merlin's sake, you'd rather visit a professor than take a break."

"Speaking of when I went to visit a professor…Ronald Weasley, what on earth were you _thinking_ today?"

"I didn't really mean anything by it," he said sheepishly shoveling food in his mouth. "And if it counts for anything, you don't have to yell at me because Hermione already told me off for it."

Ginny gave the older girl a long-suffering look. "You do realize that you've taken one of my few sources of joy away from me, Hermione. I've been looking forward to getting on his back about his stupidity all day."

"I was not being stupid," argued Ron. "You wouldn't tell me where you went last night, and you came back long after we went to bed."

"Just so you know, Ron, it was still early when I even left the common room; you were snoring and drooling all over your little chart and neither Hermione nor Harry came back yet."

"How would you know when we came back?" Harry asked.

Ginny shrugged. "I don't know the exact time, but as Ron said, I did come back rather late but I didn't hear you come in. Honestly though, how much time can one spend in the library?" she asked, hating how hypocritical that sounded all of a sudden.

Ginny saw Harry and Hermione slip a surreptitious glance at Ron.

"You would be surprised," Harry said dryly.

Ginny was becoming very suspicious. Did that glance mean that they hadn't been in the library at all? She thought that it could have been Hermione following them the night before, but now that she thought of it, it didn't make sense. Hermione was not exactly the kind of person who would beat around the bush when telling someone off for breaking the rules; so if she had heard Draco and her snooping around the library she would have called out to them.

Deciding to test them Ginny asked a few more questions.

"So, did you run into any trouble there?"

Hermione hesitated only for a second. "Actually no; nothing at all. I guess it's still too early on in the year for that."

Ginny frowned as she caught Hermione in a blatant lie; and Harry and Ron were covering up for her. 'Well, maybe not Ron…' Ginny mused. He had been in the common room sleeping all night – she was sure of that.

"If you say so," said the redhead. She cast glances at the three seventh-years and leaned in a little closer. "Have any of you been getting any…you know, news about Mr. Tinelle's case? Or Lucius Malfoy?"

Ginny saw as the three of them shared a look before Ron answered her.

"We know that the raid on Malfoy Mansion is going to happen soon; not this week or the next, but most likely the one after."

Ginny was surprised. "Three weeks! I thought they wanted to get the search done right away before he has a chance to possibly hide something."

Ron nodded. "That's what they wanted to do at first. Then they thought it would be cleverer to let him think he had time to get rid of all the stuff while Ministry officials tail him and see if he tries to sell it to someone."

"Who's following him?"

"We dunno."

The sixth-year was confused. "You have all of this information but you don't know who in the Order is working on the case?"

For some reason Ginny saw that Hermione looked worried at her question.

"That's the thing, Ginny," said the older girl. "The Order isn't working on the case; they deal exclusively with Voldemort – this is being handled by a few departments in the Ministry."

"What?!" she asked, she looked at Harry. "I thought you knew not to trust them by now. Who's giving you all of this information?"

"Dad, of course."

"Of course? What do you mean of course?" Ginny demanded. "That doesn't make any sense. You know as well as I do that Dad wouldn't want to have anything to do with Ministry issues."

"This is an issue with Lucius Malfoy, not the Ministry." That came from Harry.

"Same thing," Ginny argued. "Malfoy has them in his pockets."

Hermione looked frustrated. "Thank you! That's what I've been telling them," she said.

Ginny saw that Ron's face turned sour. "Well your opinion changed when I showed you that letter from Dad."

"What letter?" interrupted Ginny. Ron rolled his eyes.

"Hermione insisted that we ask Dad why he was getting involved because she was just so _desperate_ to know. He replied back telling us that he wanted no part of it, really. Only some of the aurors believed that he had enough fairness in him to be a part of the investigation of Malfoy Scum Sr. to not be _too_ prejudiced."

Ginny was stunned. "What do you mean a part of the investigation?" she asked not having a very good feeling about the whole thing.

Ron rolled his eyes. "You know, snooping out for clues, trying to find out some information, being a part of the raid…"

Ginny felt like a ton of bricks hit her. She was helping Draco Malfoy to keep Lucius Malfoy out of jail. Her father was helping to put him in.

Draco would love that; as would Ron.

----------------------------------------

**bibo juice **Thanks, I'm glad that you liked (but didn't like) the cliffy. I've got a few more in store… **kittybro** Thanks for reviewing! **yuiyui **Hopefully this story will soon. Thanks for noting the paragraph spacing. I'm having issues with it, but I've gone backed and fixed it on the last chapter. **eedoe** I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Thanks for picking that up for me, I appreciate it. **Rosa di Corte** I did get the title from "Chicago". I remembered the song from the musical and thought it was perfect. I'm glad you like it. **Numbly Breaking** Thank you so much. I hope you liked this chapter.

All for now. This chap. was difficult to grind out so I hope nothing's too confusing. It's not beta-read so there were probably mistakes. I'll fish them out another time. The next chapter is well on its way to being finished. Expect much more D/G action in it. Woohoo!

Click that button, you know you want to.

Femme


	9. Nine

Author's Notes: This chapter is _so_ long. So have fun with it. There's a reward at the end…story earns at least a PG-13 rating, R because I'm weird. **Numbly Breaking**, I think I made you a very happy person in this chappie. Woo hoo! Let the good times roll. (not beta read again)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. I just like to play with them.

Miss Cellophane

* * *

Ginny felt like a ton of bricks hit her. She was helping Draco Malfoy to keep Lucius Malfoy out of jail.

Her father was helping to put him in.

Draco would love that. As would Ron.

* * *

Ginny found herself in the dungeons at precisely eight o'clock that night as she and Draco had been ordered.

It had been a trial getting Colin and Ron to stop being idiots long enough for her to make her escape. Ginny hadn't told anyone that she had detention three nights that week. The excuse she had used was that she was going to see her 'boyfriend'. Hermione had warned Ginny not to make a habit out of it; after all the detention was taking time out her work and it was too early to start falling behind. The redhead rolled her eyes when she had been told that; she wasn't stupid and knew that her homework would have to get done somehow; so she completed some of the assignments during the rest of her break with Colin earlier on. Of course she still had an essay to write…but it wasn't due until the end of the week.

The only real trouble Ginny ran into was the teasing that she encountered with her brother and Colin after dinner.

She was on her way to the dungeons when Ron demanded to know who _it_ was (he didn't think that she was capable of getting a _human_ boyfriend) and so she told him Dobby just to annoy him. When he continued to protest she contemplated saying Snape. That, however, would not be wise.

So she settled for being Ms. Mysterious and tried to shimmy off to her detention with Draco.

Then Ron begged one more question off her.

"What _house_ is he in, then? Can't you just tell me that?"

Colin joined in from behind Ginny. "Yeah, or is he just so atrocious that you're too embarrassed to even -?"

Ginny began to feel a bit defensive about her nonexistent boyfriend; had he been there he would have as well.

"Ravenclaw," she shot at them. "I've got a thing for their big…brains."

"Ginny!" Hermione said. Harry just stared and Colin was sniggering at Ron's red face.

"Think you're funny, eh, Ginny? I've just caught you in a lie! Ravenclaw's having a Quidditch practice tonight. They managed to snag the earliest one this year." Ron's face began to return to its normal color as Ginny's heightened.

'Damn,' she thought irritably.

"Wait," Colin put in, "Who said he's on the Quidditch team?"

"Shut it," ordered Ron.

"Honestly, what does it matter?" she asked her brother.

His eyes widened. "Ooh…I know…" Ginny began to feel nervous. "I know…he's in Hufflepuff isn't he?" He went forward and patted her on the shoulder. "There's plenty of upstanding blokes in Hufflepuff, Ginny; you shouldn't be ashamed of whoever he is."

Ginny looked up fondly at Ron. Bless his daft little soul. "You're right, Ron." She shook her head and smiled a little ashamedly. "I don't know why I tried to hide it…I guess I just didn't want to anyone to know – he likes a low profile, he does. We planned to keep it under wraps until the right moment, I suppose. Promise you won't tell Mum?"

Ron made a face. "She'll drag it out of me."

"All I ask is that you try."

"I can do more than _try_, Ginny. S'not like I can't keep a secret." Ginny snorted and checked her watch.

"You'd better because I've got to be off."

He grumbled and followed Harry and Hermione who had already started up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. Ginny turned to go on her way to the dungeons but saw that Colin was still standing there with a meaningful smile on his face.

"Was there something you wanted to say, Mr. Creevey?"

He shrugged. "I only wanted to make few observations."

"Observe your heart out."

"It's just funny to me that this whole time standing here I only just realized that we're facing the direction that takes you closest to the Potions dungeons."

Ginny remained unruffled. "That is rather funny." She spun around. "What's more is that when I turn around I face another direction that could take me to the kitchens, or to that nice little broom cupboard I've heard about. Funny things, these directions, you never know where you'll end up."

"Mock me all you want, Ginny, but why would you go in this direction unless you wanted to go to the dungeons? No one ever heads this way unless they've got detention." He smiled satisfactorily and Ginny saw that it was pointless; in actuality she didn't mind if Colin knew: he was good at secret keeping.

"Fine. I've got detention for three nights this week."

"What did you do?"

She shrugged. "I got caught out after hours last night."

"With your Hufflepuff boyfriend?"

"_Yes_, with my Hufflepuff boyfriend," Ginny shot at him. "Are you finished observing? I don't want to be late."

Colin put his hands up. "I'm through, I'm through. Have fun with Snape."

Ginny scowled and watched Colin walk off.

Steeling herself, Ginny walked the rest of the way down the corridor and into the room with what she hoped was a composed face. However, Draco and Gavin were there, but Snape was not.

"Ah, Ginevra," said Gavin beseechingly. He was sitting at Snape's desk smiling at her as if they were about to have a party. "Right on time." Draco gave him a blank look. "I wondered briefly if you were going to be late – my ticker here says that it's one-past, though." He patted his watch. "But I'll let it slide. Anything for a friend of Hermione Granger!" he said chuckling.

Draco looked like he wanted to be sick and gave Ginny a disparaging look. "Oh, I wish that I were Granger's friend. Then I wouldn't want to retch every time I heard her voice."

Gavin frowned deeply, but Ginny knew to ignore the Slytherin. "How, er, thoughtful of you, Gavin. I'll make sure to put in a good word for you."

The sixth-year cast a lingering glance at Draco and then turned to Ginny. "Wonderful, wonderful. Shall we get down to business then?"

No one answered.

"Great. For you, Ginny, Packard and Snape gathered together all the dirty, stained cauldrons from the past week." Ginny blanched when she saw the very tall pile of slimy, black cauldrons by the sink. "You're to wash them until they're back to they're back to their original shine."

Ginny smiled tightly at Gavin. "I didn't know that black cauldrons shone. How interesting."

"Yes! It _is_ interesting - especially since these are solid silver! You'd best get to work!"

Ginny scowled at him and then at Draco who was smirking so much that she wanted to make him eat whatever was left on the filthy cauldrons. Clenching and unclenching her teeth she rolled up her sleeves and walked over to the sink.

"Oh, right! _Expelliarmus_. No wands," said Gavin smartly as Ginny's wand flew from out of her robe and into his hands. "You too, Draco."

The older blond looked at Gavin coolly. "Malfoy to you, Wotright. Remember that I am Head Boy and that you must treat me as such." Disregarding Gavin's open hand Draco placed his wand on the chair next to him so that Gavin would have to get up.

Gavin was obviously ruffled at Draco's show of open hostility. Ginny shook her head. Did he honestly think that just because they were both prefects that they were friendly all of a sudden? Draco Malfoy had no friends. Once, it may have been Crabbe and Goyle, but it didn't seem so anymore.

"Of course," said Gavin getting Draco's wand. "I have a question about that, though, if you'll oblige me."

"Ask away, peon," Draco muttered with agitation.

Gavin shrugged. "Well, on authority of the Head Girl I read _Hogwarts: A History_. And I really don't recall seeing that a Head Boy served a detention in quite a while."

"Nine years ago," said Ginny automatically. Gavin and Draco both stared at her. "Hermione told me that the last Head Boy served a detention nine years ago; so it hasn't really been all that long. Draco is not the first and most likely will not be the last."

Draco stared at Ginny calculatingly. Had she just defended him? Ginny avoided the seventh-year's gaze and looked straight on at Gavin. "I thought you'd like to know."

"How informative of you, Ginny. I'd forgotten." His voice was considerably less jaunty. "But I wanted to ask Draco - oh, right, _Malfoy_ how it felt being the first Head Boy to get a detention in almost a decade. Might I ask the circumstances by which this came to be?"

Draco gave Gavin a look icy enough to freeze his rude little mouth.

"Tell me, Wotright, how would it feel to eat your food through a straw?" The younger boy's mouth parted in surprise. "Would you like to know the circumstances by which that would be accomplished?"

There was a very nasty silence in which the only sound throughout the room was the splashing of the water in the large sink where Ginny washed the cauldrons.

"Not really. It would be interesting, though, to hear who would teach you such a thing."

Ginny couldn't help the soft gasp that left her lips. Gavin had all but taunted Draco about his father. She didn't know what to say, or do. Draco had yet to say anything and she couldn't see what he was doing as he was only in her peripheral vision. Ginny turned sideways slightly so that she could get a better view of the situation without seeming like she was doing so. She saw that Draco was leaning to the desk where his wand lay…

_Crash!_

Draco and Gavin's heads snapped to look at the source of the noise, and Draco's hand froze.

"Damn!" Ginny swore. "How clumsy; I think it slipped out my hands from the soap."

She bent down to pick up a half-shining cauldron off the floor but kept her eyes on the two boys in front of her. She saw that Draco was pale with anger and Gavin pale with fear but proudly defiant all the same. People like Gavin Wotright disgusted her – it slipped her mind that she had more than once taunted Draco about his father's precarious situation.

The room went quiet.

After a full minute where Ginny resumed her washing but kept both ears open for any sounds of war Gavin cleared his throat.

"Your task is to bottle and stopper these trays of frogs' bladder. You must first rinse them –"

"I'm top in my class in Potions, don't bother to explain."

Gavin shrugged. "I shan't. I'll be right back. My assistance is required elsewhere and I won't return for another half hour or so. Keep to your work and do not leave the room."

His heels ticked out into the hall and the door shut.

It was obvious that Draco was seething with anger and Ginny smiled inwardly. His name had less meaning than he thought. Although, she thought wryly, Gavin evidently enjoyed spearing his roast beef, not drinking it through a tube in the Hospital Wing as he didn't have the audacity to remind Draco that he was not first in Potions: he was second to Hermione.

The two partners in crime worked in silence for a good half an hour. Ginny was working out how to tell Draco that her family was trying to put the head of his family in jail. More importantly Ginny wondered about how her own father would react to finding out that his only daughter was working against him.

"Eight years, eh?"

Draco seemed to have a routine going on. He rinsed the bladders three times, pushed them in the small bottles with a thin wooden stick that seemed oddly enough to be made just for that task, and stopped them up. He had at least fifteen or so she noticed. With a grimace Ginny also noticed that they made a sickening squelching sound as they were forced in.

Ginny was pulled out of her thoughts.

"Eight…? Oh," she said, understanding his reference. "Yeah, eight years ago…" She stuck her hands inside another cauldron. "Yeah, Hermione told me that once; don't think I was trying to defend you."

_Squelch_.

Draco smiled sardonically and shook his head. "I thought you told that Mudblood lover nine, not eight." Ginny started with surprise. "Still want to say that you weren't backing me up?"

She washed much slower this time. "Look, you're not the only person that doesn't like Gavin Wotright. I would have said anything to shut him up."

_Squelch_.

"That seems rather impossible as he's bent on imitating Beaver to the fullest – babbling and all. Tell me, is he a Mudblood also?"

Ginny's jaw clenched. "As a matter of fact he _is_ a Muggleborn and if you say that filthy word near me one more time I'll be pushing pieces of _you_ into those bottles."

Draco snickered, infuriating the redhead even more. "I'd like to see you try."

"You have no idea what I'm capable of."

"Neither does anyone else; you can't know what doesn't exist."

Ginny shook her head. They still had at least two hours left and she felt like she had been there all night. "Just shut up."

At that moment she hoped that her father locked Lucius Malfoy in the most secure prison just so that she could see Draco's face when he heard. Ginny wondered if he really cared for his father all that much anyway; he already told her that his precious surname would be tarnished with the stain of a prison sentence on it, but there had to be more to it.

Ginny lathered up more soap on the already filthy rag and let the bubbles build up along with her thoughts. "Say…do you love your father?"

A bottle promptly crashed to the floor and Ginny looked at it with surprise. She looked up at Draco to yell at him for his clumsiness but was startled to find that he was already looking at her.

"What did you just ask me?"

The full effect of what Ginny had just asked began to sink in. She realized how tactless it had been to ask him that. It was such a personal question and she had no idea how it had escaped her lips; one moment she was thinking it and the next…it was out in the air.

"It doesn't matter," Ginny said quickly. Draco refused to look away and she could see his pulse point throbbing pointedly in his neck. "It was stupid of me to ask…you _do_…I mean, of course you love your father…he's your father…I don't know if I-"

Ginny cut herself off. She was about to say, 'I don't know if I could love him.'

She had no idea what to say next, though. Draco was very pale and from her experience with him so far that usually meant anger. However, she had never said something so…unwelcome to him until then and his eyes were sparkling oddly.

"Do you love your own father?" she heard him ask.

"Yes," she said simply.

"If Lucius Malfoy was your father could you love him the same way?"

"That's…that's not an issue. Even if he was my father love and Lucius Malfoy have nothing to do with one another."

"What makes you think that I feel any different?" Draco leaned down to pick up the glass. "Don't ask again."

"I was just curious," Ginny muttered defensively, crouching down to help pick up the shattered jar as well. Evidently Draco heard because he snapped,

"Curiosity's what killed the Gryffindor so just leave it at that. You seem to have trouble letting well enough alone."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're surname's not Longbottom, Weasley. Dropping that cauldron wasn't an accident."

"No shit, _Draco_," she said disdainfully, hating his taunting of Neville. Neville was one of her few true friends. She smiled when he grimaced. "Oh, did you forget that you told me to call you by your first name?"

He ignored the taunt. "If I want to teach someone respect don't ever interfere."

"I will if it gets in the way of our arrangement. Your temper is a menace! It's not exactly going to help further our investigation if you're constantly bottling frog bladders in detention, is it?"

"You think you're so clever don't you?"

"It's not a matter of cleverness. It's all to do with your stupid pride. Get over it. Your father could possibly go to prison. I know that. You know that. The entire bloody world knows that. I thought you wanted to do something about it instead of sit on your arse and fire off jinxes at people who happen to voice what everyone already knows."

"How informative of you," Draco hissed. "You're only out for your own interests, so I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"I don't want to understand!" shouted Ginny. "I want nothing to do with you. Yes, I'm using you! Is that what you want me to say?"

Draco nodded; he had a hard glint in his eye. "I expected nothing more from a common slag whose father has never done anything to inspire feelings of pride. I had forgotten that the poor have nothing to be proud of."

Ginny felt like she had been slapped. Her fists were clenched so tightly that they began to ache.

"I think I'll understand it better when my father tells us how much fun he had going through your manor. My joy will have no bounds then."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Draco sharply.

"Sit on that confusion and rotate; I'm not telling you anything." She began to stand up but the blonde grabbed her wrist.

"I asked you a question."

"Don't touch me!" Ginny shouted, pushing Draco back with her right hand; instead of letting go he only pulled her closer by the waist. "You bastard…" Trying to pry his hand off of her she was startled when he suddenly let go and stood up. Losing balance Ginny tilted back and fell. "What the hell is the matter with you?!"

"You're bleeding, you idiot," he told her showing her his hand. There were spots of a bright red liquid on it, but his hand was undamaged.

From her position on the floor Ginny looked at the inside of her palm. There was a small shard of glass sticking out of it from when she balled up her fists.

"This is all your fault," Ginny said angrily. Now that she realized that she had a cut it began to smart even more.

"Stop whining and go to Pomfrey," Draco said dismissively. "Before you do I want to know what you meant by your last comment."

"I _can't_ go to her – my brother thinks I'm with my boyfriend, not serving a detention. The next time that Madam Pomfrey sees Ron she'll tell him I was there."

Draco looked thoughtful and then slowly began to smile. "How about you let your boyfriend fix it?"

"Shut up. It's not funny." She examined it closely and then held it away from her a little more. "The bleeding isn't stopping…"

"Then let me have a look at it."

"I don't want you touching me."

"You let me hold your hand yesterday."

"I didn't let you do anything! You grabbed me! And what good did it do? We're in detention and I'm bleeding all over the place."

"You wouldn't be if you'd just come over here. I'm not going to beg you. Actually I was hoping that you might bleed to death; but I'm the only other person in the room and Wotright would just as soon point the finger at me, than admit that a brave old Gryff was stupid enough to smash glass into her hand. So you can let me heal it up or wait until he comes back and makes a fuss." Ginny looked at Draco with uncertainty. "I'm sure that he'd love to inform Potter and his little minions how you came to get it."

Ginny slammed her good hand onto the floor in aggravation.

"Trying to slice up the other one, _Ginny_? I didn't know you were masochistic."

"Being around you tends to make me feel that way. Help me up before I change my mind."

Ginny put her arm up limply in the air like a wet noodle and Draco took it firmly and pulled her up. Staggering a little Ginny stood in front of the blond and gave him her injured hand. When he didn't do anything right away she became agitated.

"Wait, neither of us has a wand. What are you planning to do?"

Draco looked up from his observation of her wound and lifted an eyebrow. "If you didn't notice, we're in a Potions room."

Ginny looked at him skeptically. "You're going to make an entire Healing Potion right now?"

"_No_; just something to temporarily stop the bleeding. I don't know if I can stop it from hurting though." He grinned nefariously at her. "I'm not sure I want to."

Ginny made to snatch her hand back but he held it firmly. "You're going to give me a bruise," the redhead said furiously.

"Not if you calm down," Draco muttered absently looking around the room for ingredients. He felt Ginny's hand gradually relax inside his own. "Alright. Make a fist with your hand to slow down the blood flow."

Ginny did it with a wince. It was still smarting.

"No pain, no gain…Ginny," said Draco trying out her name again on his lips. It felt different when he wasn't saying it in a malicious way; very…foreign.

He watched her roll her eyes. "So if I punch you, even if it hurts, the satisfaction I'll gain from it will be worth it?"

"I dare you."

When he glanced at Ginny he saw her grinning a bit. "Are you going to rip off a piece of your robe for me?" Not being able to help herself she began to snigger. "How thoughtful."

"Not really," said Draco resolutely. "I'm doing it so that you don't bleed on me. These robes are fairly expensive."

Over the next twenty minutes Ginny watched as Draco took random ingredients off of Snape's shelves and mixed them in a small bowl. When he disappeared momentarily to go into another supply cupboard for a cloth to wrap her hand in, Ginny peeked at the peach colored concoction.

"He's going to know that someone went in there," Ginny called.

The blond returned.

"All of it came from the student supply closet so it doesn't really matter. Anyone above third year, maybe even second year is allowed to get ingredients from the student stores without permission." He washed his hands once more and then with a thick gauze strip began to spread it on Ginny's hand. Ginny gasped at the cool contact of the potion on her palm.

"Why? Worried about getting in more trouble?"

Ginny snorted and looked on interestedly as his pale hands passed repeatedly over her palm. She felt his left hand warmly support the back of her hand. Ginny shivered when Draco dabbed more of the spread on.

"Packard is enough to worry about without Snape threatening me to tell him I stole from him on pain of excruciating death."

"It's nothing more than you deserve…Finished."

Ginny studied her palm with – thought she'd hate to admit it – satisfaction. The sixth-year realized that Draco had used their bickering to his advantage and managed to get the glass out of her hand without her noticing its removal. Her hand was still red but the bleeding had stopped; hopefully the potion would hold up through the night.

She nodded. "Thanks." She looked up at him with an arched eyebrow. "I'm surprised."

Draco watched Ginny; his head bending down to look her straight in the eye. "Why? Because I did a good job?"

"Well yes," she blurted out.

He frowned. "Well for my girlfriend even I can masquerade as gentle."

Frustrated, Ginny fought an oncoming flush. He was a manipulative arsehole, she tried to make herself remember. She would ignore the fact that his fingertips were passing over her hand with faux innocent, tantalizing strokes. She had to ignore him.

She had to know why.

Ginny stared at him. "Why do you always do that?"

He smirked and laced his hand in hers but allowed his thumb to continually trace patterns on the inside and out of her hand. "What, this?"

Ginny grit her teeth.

His eyes gleamed mischievously. "For a Weasley, you've got nice hands…"

Ginny smiled sweetly. "All the better to slap you with."

"I appreciate a feisty girlfriend."

"I wouldn't know," Ginny snapped becoming irritated with his games. He was constantly trying to jerk her chain to get what he wanted and it was infuriating. "Look, if you want information from me you don't have to flirt shamelessly to get it; all it does it make you look like a fool."

"You're the one who's all cow-eyed over me."

"Because you're trying to seduce me!"

Draco looked at her questioningly. "By holding your hand? If that's got you all hot and bothered already then the actual act of sex will probably end up killing you."

By this time Ginny was crimson. "I'm sure you'd love that!" she shot back.

Draco grimaced. "Not if I'm on top of you at the time."

All the redhead could do was stare at him with complete and utter shock. "What on earth makes you think you'd get on top of me?"

The blond looked intrigued. "Sorry, I didn't know I was stealing your position."

There was a pause. Then Ginny began to laugh quietly. It was almost silent but steady and she found herself struggling to catch her breath.

"This is so ridiculous…" she managed to get out.

"What? That in our future we'll either kill each other while arguing or that you'll die during sex? I think it's disturbing."

Ginny only laughed harder and Draco was hard put to hide his amusement.

Brown eyes sparkled up at Draco. Pink lips sighed. "I know that you're only being amusing to disarm me."

"Is it working?" the blond questioned. He pulled Ginny closer and Ginny forgot about the feel of his hand on top of hers when the other that was sliding around he waist became more distracting. They stood there for a long moment, neither person moving.

"I'm not sure…"

There was only the smallest of distances between them and Ginny found that she was responding to his proximity, to his scent. She closed her eyes; it reminded her of winter. Chilled and frosted but exciting at the same time. Draco leaned down and Ginny felt the soft skin of his lips skim the top of her own. They lifted up and came back down, with more pressure this time. They caressed gently…

And then she shoved him back roughly.

Draco wasn't sure if he should be offended or amused by the blatant look of horror on Ginny's face.

"Is there a problem?" he began cautiously.

Ginny covered her mouth with the uninjured hand. "What…in the seventh circle of _hell_ was _that_…?"

"Seven…" Draco mused. "And I thought there were only five…"

"Answer me!"

Draco sobered. "It was just a kiss – not even a proper one. We didn't really have time to feel it out a little more."

Ginny's eyes widened. "The hell it wasn't a big deal! You…you came onto me."

"You didn't complain," he shot back.

"I pushed you away."

Draco smiled wolfishly. "That's right. You pushed _me_ away. You didn't move away yourself."

"What does that matter?"

Draco advanced on her. "You couldn't have stopped yourself, so you stopped me; isn't that why you're so upset right now?"

"No! No on all counts! I'm upset because it came out of nowhere."

The blond boy stood still and gave the girl in front of him a long look. "Did it really?"

Ginny felt like she was having an out-of-body experience.

She accused Draco Malfoy had tried to initiate a kiss with her and he had the nerve to _not_ deny it!

"This isn't amusing," she told him harshly. "I didn't come here for this!"

"Neither did I!" shouted Draco, becoming angry at Ginny's tone. "But it's there! It was there in the Room of Requirement! It was even there when your little friend Creevey was watching. You all but admitted that you can't even touch me without feeling…_it_…" He moved closer to Ginny and his countenance darkened even more when Ginny stepped back. "It's attraction, Ginny," he whispered using her name very deliberately.

"Stop it," Ginny ordered, gazing it him with wonder. "Do you honestly think I'll let you just…_have_ me? So you can tell all your friends that you pulled a Weasley?"

"I haven't got any friends." He looked at Ginny with the hint of a smirk on his mouth. "And you're wrong. This belongs only to us."

"There isn't an us! How can you be so…flippant?"

"Because the hippogriff in the room can't be ignored forever; someone is going to notice its ugly face lurking around. Only someone delusional would try and put it out of their mind."

Ginny noted Draco's surprised face when she laughed scornfully at him, not sounding much like herself. She wondered absently if she were on the edge of hysteria.

"So what do you propose? That we start a _relationship_?"

Draco shook his head. "No, not really. We don't have enough to go on yet besides attraction. Although that sounds like a nice jumping off point…do you have any ideas?"

Ginny was incredulous. "Yeah! I've one: jump off a bloody cliff, Draco Malfoy." She heard him start to laugh. "Dammit, this isn't funny! You've actually given this whole thing thought!"

Despite his unflappable demeanor Ginny detected a pink tint on his pale skin. "I like to think things through. My shag first, ask questions later days are numbered – have been for some time now, actually."

Ginny was aghast. Was he for real?

"I'm sure it's an enchanting story, really…" she swallowed and then took another look at the boy across from her. "But I'm not interested."

"Liar."

"If I'm a liar then you're a manipulative scoundrel! You have to admit that this goes beyond any rationality." She looked tentatively at Draco to gauge how he would take her next argument. "It's like Packard said: my family – Ron – would never accept any of this."

"Aargh!" Draco exclaimed shoving a hand roughly through his hair. "Please tell me that 'Ron' is the name of your Chastity Belt because I don't want to hear you talking about your prick of a brother again."

"Why not?" asked Ginny furiously. "If I ever got involved with you he'd be more of a reality than ever."

"You need to break away from him," Draco said simply.

"Don't tell me what to do," Ginny rebounded. "You obviously understand nothing about me so your point of 'pursuing a relationship' is moot."

"Are you genuinely all that opposed to being attracted to me?" Draco questioned.

Ginny turned her gaze away from him. "Yes…and no…it's complicated!" She said when Draco advanced. "And frankly…I don't think it's a good idea to explore that territory." She sighed. "So let's just write it off as a fluke and move on."

Ginny willed herself to turn away from Draco when in reality it was the last thing she wanted to do. She might never get an offer from him like that again. And it was incredibly tempting…

"I could try and finish up those cauldrons with my hand like this but I don't really want to…" she murmured when he didn't say anything. "We've still got a lot to go over…I suppose we could talk now. Maybe later if you wanted –"

"Let's talk now." She heard him walk up behind her and she went to fiddle uselessly with the cauldrons under the illusion that she was putting them in some kind of order.

"Aren't you going to finish bottling those bladders?"

"Not on your life."

Ginny walked away from the large sink (making sure to give the blond a wide berth) and sat down in a chair; Draco did the same.

"Tell me what you meant about your father going through my house."

"Your manners are lacking, Draco." He said nothing and so Ginny went on. "At dinner tonight Ron told me that my dad's going to be one of the people going through Malfoy Manor – He owled Ron."

It took all of Draco's willpower not to sneer. "Arthur Weasley's no auror."

Ginny's eyes flashed. "No, really?"

"So what's he doing there?" Draco asked, trying to avoid another row.

"I wonder about that just as much as you. Supposedly he was asked personally by high officials in the Ministry to help conduct the raid so that it could pass with as much 'fairness' as possible."

"Yes, it's _so_ fair since your father hates mine."

Ginny nodded reluctantly. "And also Minister Fudge and my father don't get along – as a matter of fact Fudge and _your_ father are closer than most people. It makes no sense why he would allow Dad to do this."

Draco's face was guarded. "The Ministry is receiving far fewer donations this year…"

Ginny's thinking went on other lines. "I just wonder why Dad didn't tell me! He told Ron, Hermione…Harry. I bet everyone in the family knew but me."

Draco gave Ginny an exasperated look. "Maybe you should be asking your brother and his little friends that." When he saw that Ginny was about to protest he went on. "He did keep the letter your Dad wrote away from you. Don't you have just as much right to know what goes on in your family as anyone else?"

Ginny thought about that. "But Ron didn't really hesitate to tell me when I asked him…maybe Harry told him not to…"

"What does it matter?" Draco asked. "Either way no one wants to include you in anything."

Ginny fell silent and Draco shifted in his seat a little.

"Was there any more information?"

Ginny looked up. "Yeah. The raid's on in about three weeks."

"Trying to catch my father in a trap I bet…he'd better not be stupid enough to fall into it…Merlin…is there no such thing as good news?"

The redhead gave Draco an enthusiastic look. "Well, as you saw in your Defense class Packard finally gave me permission to get the Restricted book out. I'm keeping it in my room in a trunk." Ginny hesitated. "The only thing is that one of the other books, _Prophets of the Past_ is a Reference Book."

"Meaning that we can't check it out?"

Ginny nodded.

"You'd better be sure of that. When I wrote up that list I made sure to look over those books first for availability. It wasn't a Reference Book then."

"I'm positive," Ginny said defensively. "Go check it if you don't believe me. We'll just have to go there and copy it over somehow."

"I know a spell for that…but the book is rather large…" Ginny snorted.

An elephant was 'rather large'. That book was colossal.

"It'll take time that we don't have to copy it over and arrange it ourselves."

"Do you know any other sources where we can get information like that? It was amazing," Ginny said. "There were articles on him all over it."

The blond shrugged. "Other newspapers probably reported things on Tinelle so they might have the same types of information. But do you know of any?" Ginny shook her head. "So obviously that's not an option."

The two of them listened to the shuffles of feet outside.

"What time is it?" Ginny asked.

"Just after nine," Draco answered her checking the silver watch on his wrist.

"Shouldn't Gavin be back by now?"

"Not if he's out smelling Granger's knickers. They're probably so large that he's only made it halfway around them."

"I thought I told you not to talk about them like that. At least not Hermione; Gavin's a different story." Suddenly Ginny remembered something else that she had wanted to ask Draco. "Did Hermione have Prefect Patrol last night? In the library?"

"Of course not. You should know that better than anyone. If she had been the one chasing us do you really think that she wouldn't have used magic to stop us from getting away. Like sealing the door with fire or something equally dramatic and show-offy."

Ginny ignored his sarcastic tone. "That's exactly what I thought! But at dinner tonight Hermione said that she and Harry were up late in the library."

"Well obviously they lied."

Ginny could have hexed him…then she realized she had no wand.

"Doesn't this mean anything to you?"

Draco became irritated. "They're doing what they always do: snooping around. As long as they stay out of my way I don't really see how it matters."

Ginny twisted her hands around. "I caught them a few nights ago, lugging a bag of stuff back up to the common room. Ron admitted that it was butterbeer. What do you suppose that meant?"

"That you brother is too much of a wuss to drink Firewhiskey?"

"Draco -"

"Unless you see a butterbeer trail that will lead us to the real person who put the Imperius on Tinelle, I don't much care what The Trio does. Is this getting through your thick skull? Focus for once on something else for god sake."

"Fine," Ginny said crossly. "But if it means something it's your father's skin, not mine. For a change of subject, though, why _don't_ we talk more about your father?"

Draco looked at Ginny distrustfully. "What about him?"

"For one thing, have you been talking to him lately? Has he sent you any owls?"

"No, not really," Draco confessed. "I haven't gotten anything from him. It's not all that strange, though. I usually get the customary owl around the beginning of term – I've gotten that already – then usually an owl telling me to come home for whatever holiday."

"Did he mention anything about all of this stuff in the first owl."

The blonde's face darkened. "No."

Ginny was relentless. "And _you_ didn't think to mention it in your reply?!"

"I don't know whether your complete ignorance of ways of the world other than your own mark you as someone extremely sheltered a simpleton," Draco spat. "If my father deems it time to bring up the case, he will. And even then I doubt that we'll _discuss_ it. I'm sure that whenever your family encounters a setback you sit around and have tea and crumpets and share lots of hugs but that's not the way Malfoys deal with things."

Ginny glared at him. "Thanks for the tutorial. I just assumed that you had a more assertive role in your house."

"Look, if you're all that curious, he's already ordered me to come home for Christmas. I'm bound to hear something then."

"I suppose that'll have to do for now."

Ginny surveyed Draco and saw that he was looking at their unfinished detention tasks.

"You think they'll tell us off for not finishing them? I have a plausible enough excuse, but do you?"

"No," he replied bluntly. "We should have gone to the Hospital Wing like I suggested, because then we'd both have reasons for not cleaning up the messes of all the Longbottom's in this school."

Ignoring the swipe at Neville, Ginny focused instead on the insistence in his voice and wondered if she _should_ have gone to see the healer.

"My brother'll wonder how I managed to injure myself on a supposed date with my Mystery Man."

Draco shrugged. "Tell him that your boyfriend made an improper advance and you slapped him so hard that you hurt your hand."

"And cut it up? Your face isn't made of nails."

He grinned. "So you thought it was baby soft? I promise you that I've got plenty of rough edges to counter that."

Ginny backed her chair away from him and stood, hoping that her own face was it's normal hue. "That's nice. Let's go see Pomfrey." She began to leave.

Draco stood up languorously and stretched his lean form to each side before coming to a standstill; during that process Ginny studiously looked everywhere in the room but at him.

"Slow down, Weasley; you weren't in such a hurry before. We're walking out together just in case we run into trouble."

Ginny was doubtful. "What could happen on a walk to the Infirmary." She started walking without him and then halted. "Oh wait! Should we leave a note or something for Gavin? He might come back before we do."

Draco strode over to Ginny and took her by the arm, leading her out of the room. "There's no need to be courteous. It would be wasted on him."

Ginny regarded Draco knowingly. "You realize that it'll drive him insane not knowing where we've gone?"

"With all hope," muttered the seventh-year. He continued to walk Ginny out of the room from very close behind her, one hand on her upper arm, his abdomen skimming her back.

Ginny felt breathless. Draco opened the door just enough for him to peek his head out and check the corridor for any wayward students or professors. His body leaned into Ginny's even more and she flushed, hoping that he couldn't feel the sudden surge of warmth that shot through her.

"If it makes you feel any better," he stated quietly, "I'll try and make sure that as few people as possible see us." He pulled his head back in and gazed down at Ginny who was practically in his arms.

"Okay," she managed say.

If she wanted to, all she had to do was stretch up a bit further to kiss him.

'Do it, Ginny. What are you waiting for?' she asked herself. She could feel her heart thudding manically inside her chest. 'Go on!'

She could see Draco's open face looking right back at her, daring her to make a move. So she lifted an arm and let it trail up the nape of his neck deeper into his hair. He pushed himself closer to her as if to tell her not to stop. Ginny pulled his head down and Draco let go of the doorknob to let it rest on her hip.

Slam!

Inches away from Draco's face Ginny tensed and then looked at the door. He had let go of it and so it closed…rather loudly at that. The redhead released a loud breath: from relief or frustration she wasn't sure.

Extracting herself from the blond – who had yet to say a word – Ginny opened the door once more and stepped out into the hall. The fire torchlights were blazing brightly although somewhat dimmed by the general dark of the dungeons. A dank chill wafted through the air, making Ginny think momentarily that there was a ghost somewhere near, but it was just a draft. On the bright side there was not a soul in sight.

"All's clear."

Although she averted her eyes away from his it wasn't hard to see the guarded look in them. She wondered if she had led him on by saying one thing and doing another. Ginny snorted silently. She was leading herself on – but it wouldn't happen again. She meant what she told him earlier: it would never work out; only ten minutes before they had been disparaging to each other. Maybe they were simply acting out on the tension that was within them. It wasn't necessarily attraction… Ginny told herself. Attraction was simply the most likely answer.

Ginny stole a glance at Draco only to have him catch her in the act and so she looked away once more feeling more than a little stupid. She was acting like an infatuated, pre-pubescent twit with someone who openly admitted to wanting her. The obvious thing to do would be to jump him, drag him in a corner and just go with it. However Ginny prided herself on _not_ doing the obvious anymore. Unfortunately her hormones didn't see it that way. They wanted her to be predictable – very predictable.

They wanted Draco Malfoy.

Ginny ceased walking for a second at that thought, which earned her a look from Draco.

"Something the matter?" he asked, not sounding overly concerned.

"Mm, no, sorry…just thinking."

Draco Malfoy _wasn't_ a predictable choice! Therefore she could do whatever she wanted with him, as she would be acting out of the norm!

Ginny frowned. But it would be doing the obvious according to her hormones…she scowled. She didn't have to answer to them! They weren't even really alive.

"Really?" Draco insisted. "Because you're making the strangest faces and I don't fancy walking down a dark corridor with someone who makes odd expressions and talks to herself."

Ginny wanted to make a smart comment, however just then they entered the main hallway. It was deserted but seemed very…open, making Ginny feel paranoid. Albeit the dungeons were foreboding and induced claustrophobia, they had thick stonewalls that granted a feeling of privacy.

She peered up at Draco in the dark, pulling him into deeper shadow. "Why did you lead us this way? There are shorter routes that afford more security. We're practically walking targets!" she whispered.

Draco's eyes glowed eerily in the poor light. "I didn't lead us anywhere. We were walking along and if you wanted to take a different path you should have gone that way."

"You saw that I wasn't paying attention, though!" she argued. "It was your idea to even go to Pomfrey! The least you could have done was take a passageway that didn't leave us in the open. Real nice."

"Look here – "

Ginny gasped and searched frantically for an alcove, a hidden room, _something_.

Someone had just entered the castle through the main doors. The sound echoed with a hollow boom through the halls, but the sound of footsteps was still far enough away for them to make a fast break to an open space. Draco pulled Ginny along but the girl kept up easily. She was in no way eager to be caught out of bed…with a Malfoy…again.

Part of her was unsure why they were hiding at all. They weren't committing a _crime_; they were on their way to the Hospital Wing; that shouldn't garner any more attention than a visit to Madam Pomfrey usually did. However Ginny knew without speaking that a Weasley alone in the halls with a Malfoy _would_ seem otherworldly, suspicious in the least. In fact no one other than Colin and of course Professors Packard and Snape knew that they were serving detentions that night. However to anyone else they had no reason to be within 3 feet of each other.

After only a few moments of searching but finding nothing, Ginny's hands ran across a doorknob and she yanked Draco in harshly, she doubted that he would mind. She had found a supply cupboard, one of the smaller ones. It was evident that the particular cupboard Ginny found was not used very often as there were cobwebs hanging from each corner and a layer of dust swirled around from their entrance. There wasn't even anything more than a battered cleaning broom that Filch must have used to sweep up after the 'dirt-ridden' students of Hogwarts. Positioning sideways so that they faced each other, with their shoulders touching the back of the cupboard, Ginny and Draco each made sure that they were securely tucked in and that nothing was poking out of the room.

Packed in closely to Draco, Ginny could feel the quick pace of Draco's heart despite the cool look of alert he held on his face. If they had wanted to be practical they would have wrapped their arms around each other to create more room, but neither made a move to do so. They simply remained plastered together with their arms to the sides as if they were under the Full-Body Bind.

"Good thinking," Draco whispered almost inaudibly. Ginny only nodded, not wanting to risk speech.

Sooner than expected Ginny heard the footsteps clipping quickly down the hall. Whoever was walking this late at night was in an obvious hurry to get somewhere. Ginny waited for something dramatic to happen; like the person to randomly realize that there were two students out of bed and that they were hiding in a forgotten supply closet. However, nothing of the sort occurred. This is why Draco was struck dumb when Ginny suddenly decided to open the door soundlessly and stick her dumb little head out to watch the person's retreating back…

Ginny noticed that the person seemed to be shaped oddly: their robes stuck out on one side forming a large lump.

Ginny's body was snatched back in.

"What the hell are you playing at?" he hissed. He looked like he wanted to wave around his arms in anger, but there was not enough room for that. He would have just ended up hitting himself.

"It was Gavin!" Ginny whispered loudly, inclining her head in the direction of the hall outside.

"Wotright?"

She frowned in the dark. "No, Gavin Arsewipe. Whom else would I mean?" she snapped. "I think he was hiding something under his robes."

"He was sneaking something into the castle?"

"It seems so…but he wasn't even in a hurry. He was just strolling along."

"He reminds me of Potter. Strutting about like he owns the place."

Ginny chose not to acknowledge that reference. "Look, we've got to get out of here and back to the room before he does."

"We're going to see Pomfrey; I'm not hearing about how you bled to death only feet away from your bed because you didn't get checked out."

"_No_," Ginny emphasized. "I promise I'll go tomorrow. Now's not the time."

"Fine," Draco snapped. "Which route are we taking?"

"The one that goes past the Defense room, there's a short staircase that'll take us almost right where we want to be."

"Look, I don't want anymore nighttime encounters…"

"There can't be _that_ many people lurking around," Ginny tried to reassure him. "Let's take our chances."

Draco nodded succinctly although he had lingering doubts and checked outside to see if anyone was coming by. When he was sure that it was clear he gestured for Ginny to come outside.

Sticking very close to the shadows that the arches of the castle walls provided, the pair slunk along the inky black castle, keeping ears and eyes pricked open to any sound.

When they approached a turn in the hall, Ginny walked slower and whispered back to Draco, "It should be around this corner." He nodded his understanding and they continued on. Just as they reached it and Ginny peeked around it she gasped loudly and then threw herself back. Draco became unsteady on his feet and almost fell backward, but he managed to keep himself and Ginny upright.

"Are you always such a blundering idiot?" he demanded. But Ginny didn't respond. Face pale and eyes standing out in stark contrast Ginny dusted off and grabbed Draco's hand, pulling him back around the corner and down the hall.

"We've got to go another way!" she said desperately.

Draco snatched his arm away and stood right where he was. "Why on earth would we do that?"

"Because – "

"Mrow!"

Draco froze. "Is that Filch's raggedy cat?" he asked sotto voce.

Ginny nodded vigorously. "They're all the way down the corridor and the stairs are closer to us, but we'd never make it without being spotted!"

"Meow!"

"You smell filthy students out of bed, my dear? Oh, we will catch them! We'll get those rule-breaking, ungrateful little rats and keep them tied up in the office, won't we, Mrs. Norris?" Filch clunked determinedly down the hall. "You'll stare them down whilst I call upon the Headmaster, won't you, Mrs. Norris? And if they step out of line _rip them apart_!"

"Mrow!"

Draco and Ginny exchanged disgusted glances and then ran down the hall back the way they came.

Ginny didn't say anything but she was more than sure that Gavin was already back at the room, waiting for them with Packard and Snape, and suspension slips. Draco was leading Ginny now, and the hall passed in one large blur of pitch black and the orange and red glow of firelight.

After hopping off the still moving staircase Ginny and Draco sprinted in the direction of Snape's classroom. Draco yanked the door open, Ginny ran inside and he shut it firmly and rest his back on it while Ginny stood in the middle of the room hunched over, breathing heavily.

Draco walked over to the panting redhead with an indecipherable look on his face and locked his eyes onto hers.

"That was – "

Ginny broke eye contact with Draco and gaped at the doorway.

The knob jingled and Gavin came inside with all his glory. He walked in complacently as if he hadn't just missed supervising them for their entire detention, and shut the door behind him. Stepping farther inside Gavin surveyed their lack of breath and their over-bright eyes.

Slowly Ginny drew up to Draco and muttered lowly so that only he could hear, "Let _me_ do the talking," she warned him. She felt him stiffen in indignation but was not going to take her statement back. Knowing how much he _adored_ Gavin, Ginny hoped that he could keep his mouth shut.

"Well, well, well…" said the sixth-year prefect eyeing the still filthy cauldrons and the un-bottled frog bladders. "Someone _hasn't_ been busy. What have you two been doing this whole time? Why are you out of breath?"

"Filch," Ginny answered honestly. "We heard him doing his rounds and got nervous and hurried back here."

Gavin lifted his chin interestedly. "So you left the room? Well I knew that you were here because you defied some infraction or another, but really, Ginny, this is quite unlike you." He looked down his nose at her and Draco. "You two weren't given these tasks so that you could stare at them. They were meant to be completed."

Thinking quickly Ginny showed Gavin her hand. "There was a mishap with one of the glass jars; Dra – er, Malfoy and I went to see Madam Pomfrey so that she could heal it."

Ginny saw Draco shifting over so that he could hide the desk behind them from view and cursed internally: the potion he made for her hand was on it. Hopefully Gavin would miss it.

He was suspicious anyway. "And if I go to the healer and ask her for tonight's log of activity, I'll see your names on it?"

"Yes, of course," Ginny told him firmly.

"Then I'll go do that," he let them know, turning to walk off.

Ginny all but ran over to Gavin and touched his arm lightly; she noticed absently that whatever he had been hiding in his robes was now absent – he must have discarded it on his way there. She thanked Merlin that he did, because it had allowed she and Draco to get back before he did.

"Wait, don't! You know my brother," she laughed nervously. "And Hermione and Harry; all three of them. How d'you think they'll react if you make such a fuss? I told Madam Pomfrey it wasn't serious. You go to her and she'll think I was lying and talk to my brother…it'll be a mess…can't you just let it go?"

He looked at her seriously. "Ginny, it's my express duty to – "

"I _realize_ that, Gavin, but just this once. It would mean a lot to me if you just took our word for it." Gavin watched Draco with shrewd eyes.

"Fine. _Fine_. I'll take _your_ word for it, Ginny."

It seemed like Draco was at the end of his rope.

"You're going to have to, aren't you? Where were _you_, Wotright?"

Gavin straightened up importantly. "As I _said_, I was running an errand. And the specifics have nothing to do with you so don't bother asking." At the slightly hazardous look in Draco's eyes he relented. "You know how Prefect's duties are. It's always a dash of this and that."

He looked at the time and then once more at the mess. "You've told me that you have a reason for not finishing your work but regardless I must report it to Packard. She'll no doubt just add it on to tomorrow night's work. I'll be supervising you two again as she claims to find me rather dependable. Imagine that! Anyway, I must retire. I advise you two to do the same. Oh, and here." He stepped forward and placed a pair of wands on a table.

Gavin smiled indulgently at Ginny, completely ignored Draco and swept ostentatiously out of the room. Draco shook off the urge to go after Wotright and rip his head off.

Ginny's shoulders sank as if some of the tension in them had been let out. She watched Draco turn away from the door, take up the pallet that had Ginny's potion spread on it, and wash it off in the sink without a word. She knew that he was upset, as he didn't realize that he was cleaning the Muggle way, but it was obvious that he was going to give her a hard time while she figured it out.

"Thanks for keeping quiet; now really wasn't the time for any rows."

Draco bent low to retrieve a hand towel from a cupboard that was close to the floor. He rose and leaned his lower back against the counter by the sink and watched the towel as he dried his hands. His loose hair put his slate eyes in shadow.

He didn't once stop to look at Ginny.

"You mean thanks for acting like some timid sod when I'm less afraid of Gavin Wotright than my own shadow," he replied chillingly. "I swear I would've hexed that filthy-blooded mongrel…"

"But you didn't, and that's what matters," Ginny informed Draco, cutting him off. She wasn't in the mood to hear him spewing about Mudbloods and blood-traitors. All the same, even though she knew that he was trying to bait her she went on, "So enough of your Slytherin elitist bullshit. Just take the job well done I've given you and swallow it."

He threw the towel down on the side of the sink and looked up furiously at Ginny. "Don't want to hear any of that, eh? Then stop spouting off your Gryffindor hug-a-tree crap and get out. It's been a rather long night and I've had my fill of seeing your face."

Ginny gaped at him, stunned.

She knew that his 'offer' to her earlier was just a one-off but she had hoped that her refusal would still allow them to be friends… of a much screwed up sort. She _didn't_ expect to hear the disgust in his voice that she did just then and his eagerness to be rid of her.

Recovering quickly she rose to the attack.

"It didn't sound that way a few hours ago," she informed him cuttingly. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd stop taking every single one of your frustrations with Gavin and the world out on me. I'm about sick of it and I'm not going to argue with you just because you're sore that I can work Gavin around without sending him to the Hospital Wing."

"Work him around? _Work the bloody wanker_ _around_?" he choked. "I could turn that fucking ponce into the festering worm that he is and not blink an eye, so don't think too highly of yourself. I'm sure you _wouldn't_ mind _handling_ Wotright, as I've come to the realization that you'd sooner touch that bleeding tosser than me, and I…" he squeezed his hands so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Just…just piss off right now."

The girl in question just stared. "What the hell is this about? I'd rather touch _anyone_ than Gavin."

Draco laughed humorlessly. "Just let it alone. I don't really care what you do. I'd appreciate it if you left, though."

"No! Merlin, you've got issues! One minute you're fine and the next you're trying to throw me out of the room for some unknown reason! If there's one thing I give to Gavin, it's consistency. I can always trust him to be a snotty arsehole, but with you, you're a bastard when you're hacked off and you're a bastard when you're not! _I_ for one think that warrants a nice touch for Gavin?" she added sarcastically.

Draco paled; the redhead had no idea what was coming next.

He strode over to Ginny, took her firmly by the arms and looked at her.

"How gently do you think he would touch you, Ginny?" With one hand he held her flush along his body and with the other he stroked along her skin, from her fingernails to her collarbone. Ginny shivered as his skin made contact with hers. Even when his long fingers ran past the shoddy material of her robes she could feel it searing a trail along her skin. She closed her eyes and leaned against him.

"I don't think I could be that gentle," he whispered into her ear. Ginny trembled. Merlin, she didn't want him to be gentle. She wanted… "Would he do things like _hug_ you?" He laughed in her ear. "Is that what you want? Tender, calculated movements?" The girl's response was stuck somewhere in her throat as he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. Ginny's arms found their way around Draco's neck and she nuzzled her nose in his chest and felt more than heard him inhale deeply. He pushed her against the counter so that they were crushed together and Ginny's mind drew a blank as heat surged through her. They weren't even really doing anything and she felt ridiculously overheated. How long would she be able to hold out? Why did she want to?

"We always fight…" she voiced although the sound seemed to come from somewhere very distant.

Draco brought his head down so that the tips of his hair pricked Ginny's skin, and his lips made contact with her earlobe, nibbling around the shell. His hand had long since stopped trailing down her arm and repeatedly squeezed and clenched Ginny's backside. He then dragged it up to the back of her neck so that he could lift her hair and kiss the area under her ear without disturbance. Ginny's arms tightened around his neck and she pushed her hips tentatively closer to him.

"Because I react to you," he murmured pushing his pelvis into her so that she could explore every possible meaning of that statement.

Ginny moaned as he gyrated against her and quickly began to respond in tune. Her hands grasped his shoulders firmly and she dragged her fingers down his back effectively pulling off his robes and let them rest around his waist where they tightened once more and pulled him to her.

"Draco…"

Her neck felt cold when his warm soft lips left it but she was pleasantly surprised when they found her own. Draco was insistently pushing his lips against her own; he placed one in between her folds and nibbled on the lower one. Feeling bold, not to mention slightly out of her mind, Ginny pushed his lips apart and allowed her tongue to tease its way inside his mouth. He groaned and surged up against her and Ginny felt his erection pointedly on her inner thigh. Draco allowed his own tongue to curl around her own and sucked and tasted while practically bending Ginny backward over the counter. The redhead threw her neck back in encouragement and was rewarded when Draco's lips suckled her throat.

Pausing, Draco gazed down at Ginny's flushed, aroused face and was met with indecision to continue. Ginny's eyes opened slowly as if laden with syrup and she stared at his swollen lips and met them with her own. He groaned and buried his face in her hair. "If I went on, would I be forcing you?" he asked quietly.

Ginny knew the answer right away.

NO.

A resounding, screaming-bloody-murder no! If he didn't go on _she_ might end up forcing _him_.

But there was silence in the room because Ginny didn't say any of that aloud. Draco stayed pressed up against Ginny for a moment longer until he saw that she wasn't going to give an answer.

"I…" she uttered hoarsely. She didn't want him to stop. Not ever. But there were just those niggling doubts in the back of her mind about his sincerity, and her family, that hadn't been present in the throws of passion. In the residual effects of their snogging-and-more session, those doubts had sounded very faint, but now they were returning.

So Draco rose off of Ginny who colored when she realized her previous position and just how _close_ he had been to her. God, she missed it already…Draco stood unabashedly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, forcing her still cloudy eyes away from his peering gray ones. She found herself wanting to cry suddenly, but she refused to let the tears surface. She would be damned if he saw her cry over one stupid kiss; she was stronger than that. If she had to, she would tell herself that it meant nothing and pray that by the following night's detention she could remember that.

Ginny was distracted from that train of thought when she heard a ripping sound. She peeked at Draco to see him tearing the wide sleeve of his robe with a frown on his face. The traces of lust were gradually receding except for his eyes that were darker than usual and his mouth unusually red.

He took Ginny's hand and shook his head knowingly when she failed to hide her flush. Making sure to wrap her hand securely but loose enough for air to pass through he watched Ginny's facial expressions shift until she brought her eyes back to his own.

He cleared his throat. "As I said before…get it properly healed by Pomfrey…"

Ginny nodded and watched with poorly hidden excitement as he lowered his head. His face hovered directly in front of hers so that she could see every detail of his face and watched his lips move as he whispered, "It won't go away."

He kissed her very softly and slowly, and Ginny knew that she was being taunted, but being teased never felt so good.

Then he stood sooner than she would have liked, went to the front of the room to retrieve his wand, and left without a backward glance.

Ginny released a sigh and slumped against the counter that she had previously been stretched over.

When had life gotten so complicated?

* * *

That was a doosie! That was the longest chapter…and I wondered if I should chop it up. But I didn't want to hold off the scene at the end for any longer, and everything fit here. Sorry if it was _too_ long; I know some people like short chapters. I doubt that any will be _this_ lengthy again.

**Numbly Breaking** You are so right about the smooching. Writing this chapter I was thinking 'Something has to happen or else.' This was a little something to sate you. Did it work? Hehehehe…Thanks you for reviewing my stories! **Rose Diamond** Thanks, I was wondering about that. I think I might need to fix some things in the first few chapters, but I'm glad that they're not too bad. Thanks for the review! **Luna Gypsy** Thanks so much! **eedoe** Yeah, for some reason, I keep dragging the plot out, but it came a bit in this chapter, and the next, which is started already, is more about plot than romance. Thanks for always giving helpful reviews!

Please review!!

- Femme


	10. Ten

Author's Notes: Finally, finally, finally, here's the next chapter. But before anything, I have to give a gigantic thanks to **Isadora** who sat at her computer and reviewed every single chapter. It was hilarious, because as you (if you're reading this), reviewed, I was online and got them one by one. So thanks again.

And not to diminish anyone else's reviews, thanks to all of you. Another honorable mention to **seekerpeeker** who constantly gives wonderful comments and advice in both of my chaptered fics; I'm very grateful for all of them.

Disclaimer: I don't own _HP_ or any of the characters. How sad.

_Miss Cellophane_

* * *

Early the next morning Ginny awoke feeling very disoriented.

Despite the danger of being hauled before McGonagall for still being out of bed after being dismissed from a detention, the redhead had walked back to her common room very slowly, mulling over what had happened to her. Following that she had to undergo the task of falling asleep when her senses were still very alert and awake from the night's events. Her dreams had been plagued with secret corners and dark classrooms, and other things…and she woke up wanting to go back to sleep until she was dead.

However, Ginny needed to get up before Colin came downstairs to meet her for breakfast so that she could see Madame Pomfrey without telling any lies. Pulling on a jumper and shoes Ginny prayed that the matron would not ask her any demanding questions. It seemed too much to hope for, but she did all the same.

Looking carefully down to the foot of the stairs, Ginny surveyed the common room to see if her brother and his friends or Colin and Neville were already there. As she couldn't see the whole area, it wasn't all that helpful; however, being around Draco for the amount of time she had taught her that it couldn't hurt.

The coast was clear.

The corridors, though empty, shone brightly with white light pouring in through the windows. It was a cloudy day and Ginny knew that it would be a little windy. Most people would probably opt to remain inside on their breaks instead of going out to enjoy the brisk day. Thinking of Luna, Ginny thought that it might not be a bad idea to go look for more (or to find any at all) Flintwomps. It would certainly get her mind off of _other_ subjects.

Walking a bit faster Ginny reached to door to the Hospital Wing and turned the knob slowly. It was eerily quiet and as she viewed the starched, stark linens that were neatly made up in the overnight portion of the room, she was almost afraid to breathe. Shoving that fear aside Ginny walked toward the matron's office and called out.

"Madame Pomfrey?" There was no answer. "Er…I was just wondering if you could help me with something…if you're even _here_…"

"Just a minute!" a voice answered from further inside the room.

Ginny followed the voice, fully expecting to see the plump, stern faced nurse, but was instead greeted with the image of two sturdy lumps with dark, expensive robes that were wasted on them. Crabbe and Goyle. They were in the middle of answering the barrage of questions being thrown at them by Madam Pomfrey and hadn't noticed the small redhead watching from behind them.

Leaning forward a little more Ginny was able to see that they both had long, thin, slashes on their arms that were red and bleeding lightly and a small pile of bloodied cloths at their feet. It wasn't anything all that dangerous, really, she noted with a more disinterest than curiosity. It probably came from a disgruntled house elf that they had tried to con into getting more of last night's dessert from.

"And how exactly did you obtain these abrasions?"

"Uh, Mrs. Norris," said Crabbe shifting in his seat so that his bulk had a comfortable fit.

Ginny rolled her eyes. It was a dumber reason than she had thought.

"And what reason would Mr. Filch's cat have for attacking you? I've told Dumbledore to speak to that man time and again, but he refuses. Of course he's reliable, but is he stable – mentally wise? I'm not sure…" proclaimed Pomfrey. Crabbe and Goyle nodded thickly.

Ginny checked the clock and realized that she would have to force Madam Pomfrey to acknowledge her presence; she really didn't have time for this.

"Er…sorry to bother you again, Madam Pomfrey, but I have to go to breakfast soon and I was wondering if you could just look something over. Maybe give me a potion for it?"

The older witch looked away from the two seventh-years. "You could be a bit more patient, however a person is suffering is a person in need. Do step past these two young men here and let me have a look. Continue on with your story, boys."

Ginny walked past Crabbe and Goyle who viewed her with mild interest and then looked away. They nudged each other none-too-gently, arguing over who had to explain what happened the night before. As Ginny put her hand in Madam Pomfrey's tough one, she supposed that Crabbe lost, for his face drooped.

"Well, uh, we were just messing around; last night, yeah?"

"Yeah," agreed Goyle. "And it was late and so Mrs. Norris caught us."

Crabbe agreed with vigorous nods of the head. "Because she came near us, and Filch was in back of her."

Goyle shoved Crabbe. "No, that's not how it went. Filch was, you know, a bit further back," he said slowly.

"Oh yeah. In _back_ of her would be really dirty," snickered Crabbe.

Pomfrey cleared her throat as she poured a potion on Ginny's hand.

"Then she started, you know, meowing and stuff," continued Goyle.

"Dumb cat wouldn't leave us alone," Crabbe said angrily, picking up the story. Ginny thought that his bland features made anger seem a notch above general oblivion. "So, yeah, we tried to kick her."

"But she dodged."

"Dumb cat."

"Then we, you know, tried to sort of pick her up and throw her somewhere where we could wait undisturbed."

"But when we had her in our arms she scratched us all up."

"That's it. It was a wicked fight. D'you think Draco would've helped?" Goyle asked Crabbe.

Ginny's ears perked up; the potion continued fizzing on her hand, healing it by the second.

"No, stupid. He wouldn't have played at what we did."

Ginny rolled her eyes. They turned nicking stuff from the kitchen into brawls with cats. Typical. Madam Pomfrey wiped off any remaining potion and told Ginny to wait while she wrote her in the log.

"I'll have to take points off for being out after hours," said the matron sternly.

"You can't!" argued Goyle. "Filch already gave us three weeks detention – a week for each of our uh…mah-liss…"

"Malice?" Ginny said out loud, not being able to be silent any more.

They looked at her suspiciously but only succeeded in looking dazed. "Yeah, what the _Weasley_ said."

Ginny was surprised. She didn't even think they could tell she had red hair, let alone her name.

"Malice to his cat. Oh, and one extra for luck, he said," reported Crabbe.

Pomfrey shook her head but didn't comment. Ginny was finished and sidestepped the two seventh-years widely and walked out into the hall. It had taken less than half an hour to be finished and she would end up getting down to the Great Hall earlier than she had expected.

* * *

By Wednesday Ginny was thoroughly sick of being in the Potions dungeons.

At first she thought it might have been the general atmosphere of the murky room; then she speculated that the fumes were getting to her. Her last, desperate reason was that she had to continuously lie to her brother when she disappeared to do more chore work. Really, though, it had everything to do with being in the same room with Gavin Wotright for more than an hour.

Ginny never had to suffer being around him for very long even though they were both in Gryffindor and shared a lot of the same classes. However she was usually with Colin who effectively shut Gavin out of her mind. In these detentions, though, it was the exact opposite. Ginny had hoped that Draco would have the same effect on Gavin as Colin did: shutting the boy up when he became all together too unbearable. Instead, Draco seemed to enjoy tearing Gavin down at every chance – and Gavin wasn't opting to back down. If she had to hear them yip at each other like temperamental dogs any more, she would hex them both and be done with it.

There was no reprieve during the day because she felt unusually tense and wary. Ginny hadn't had a chance to go over the books from the library with Draco at all by Tuesday night's detention and it had started to grate on her nerves. She wanted very much to take a look at them in her dorm - after all she was in possession of them and it wasn't a crime to read them - but her free time was spent trying to distract Colin from the fact that _she_ was unusually distracted of late, and at night she threw herself into bed, not wanting anything but sleep.

It didn't make it any better that Snape wasn't saying one disparaging word to her during Potions. She expected a whole array of interesting insults from him about her detentions, but not one came her way. He wasn't watchful of her, save hovering over her to make sure that she wasn't screwing up her class work; it was almost as if he didn't realize that she was doing detentions in his room every night. Added to that, not _once_ had he stopped by during those detentions to mock her and praise Draco. On the other hand, neither did Packard. Ginny supposed that the Defense teacher had had more than her fill of seeing Draco and Ginny together.

On Tuesday Ginny and Draco had been told by Gavin that they no longer had to do disgusting tasks around the dungeon; instead they would be doing lines. Ginny knew that Draco had different lines than she did because he refused to tell her what he had to write when they parted ways on Tuesday night, and Ginny doubted that his were: _I will not be caught out of bed after curfew in dubious situations with unusual people_. The redhead supposed that Packard had been rather thoughtful with her choice of words. _Unusual_…Draco Malfoy was unusual…Ginny got the feeling that Packard actually wanted her to write _…with the sons of Death Eaters who were facing a life sentence in Azkaban_.

So Wednesday evening, Ginny looked forward to her detention with the usual despair, but euphoria that she would be finished; the long nights were killing her.

Draco and Gavin were already there, as usual, and the Head Boy barely looked up when Ginny entered.

Ginny scowled at him. Draco had been much more subtle with his "affection", and Ginny was unsure if that was because he had tired of her, wanted to string her along, or simply because Gavin Wotright was watching them. He stuck to discreet touches: accidental brushes of the hand, just happening to find himself behind Ginny when she was least expecting it,

It was possible that Gavin had noticed, or maybe he was being his usual obnoxious self because he had separated the two detention-goers by sitting Ginny at the front of the room on the right, and Draco at the back left. Gavin put a stack of parchment in front of each of them with a dignified flourish, two quills with black ink and told them to start their work.

Half an hour into the work Gavin started whistling a cheery tune. It was a Weird Sisters song that Ginny enjoyed – had enjoyed. With every low and high of Gavin's voice, Ginny could feel her nerves splitting in every which way. She _longed_ to tell him to shut up but didn't want to hear his snotty reply.

"Are you aware that I'm half on my way to stabbing myself with this very quill?" Draco queried, pausing in his work.

Gavin stopped whistling. "If you don't like the punishment, you shouldn't have committed the crime."

Draco nearly broke the quill in half. "I'm talking about your whistling."

"Oh, you like?"

"It'd be better if it sounded like this." Draco whipped his wand out. "_Silencio_."

Gavin pawed like a small child at his throat a few times and put his own wand to his throat and tried to say the counter-charm; but obviously he had no voice. With a disparaging look at Draco he walked over to Ginny, put a hand on one of her shoulders and the other went toward her chest.

Draco, alarmed, sat upright in his chair. "Realize that when she pummels you for trying to feel her up, no one will hear you scream."

Gavin, understanding that his advance seemed improper, gestured toward where she kept her wand and then at his throat. Understanding, Ginny glanced quickly at Draco, took her own wand out and pointed it at Gavin's throat. "_Vocalis_." She faced the front once more and resumed her work, feeling Draco's glare on her back.

"Ahem!" Gavin cleared his throat. "You'll pay dearly for that stunt, Draco Malfoy. Two points from Slytherin!"

Draco smiled menacingly. "Ten points from Gryffindor."

The smile vanished from Gavin's face. "I was trying to be civil, but I see that's impossible with you. Fifteen from Slytherin."

"Twenty from Gryffindor."

"Shut up! The both of you just shut up! You're losing points from _my_ house as well, Gavin! _You're_ losing points from your own house, Mr. Head Boy." Ginny let her head hit the tabletop. "_How_ do I get involved with people like you?"

"If you didn't like it either, you should have told him to shut his trap," Draco said without sympathy; sore that Ginny had taken the spell off Gavin.

"_You_ could have asked nicer," informed Gavin.

"I could have. I chose not to."

"Not again!" Ginny moaned. "Never again! I'll be a bloody saint for the rest of the year as long as I don't have to be in a room with the two of you again."

"I hope not," said Draco. "Where's the fun in that?"

"This isn't fun," she negated firmly. "This is misery on a stick; a blunt stick that is currently stabbing me in multiple places. I don't want to be here anymore than either of you, but the more you two squabble, the longer we'll stay. I don't know about you two, but I've got work to do, assignments to complete."

"Might one of them be Arithmancy?" Gavin inquired, missing the point completely.

Ginny grit her teeth. "_Possibly_."

He smiled fondly and sat on the top of her table. "Well, you see I've been having a spot of trouble on this one calculation that Professor Vector asked us to work on in class. As you know, we're going to be quizzed on it on Monday. I was wondering if you might want to join me for a study session. Say…Saturday in the library? For about an hour before lunch?"

Draco stiffened. Surely she wouldn't consider being around _that_ any time after the detention was complete – she had said so herself.

"Gavin –"

"Fine, fine. Forty-five minutes. It would help _tremendously_, Ginny. And then afterward we could go to the Great Hall, get some lunch…"

"How desperate can you be, Wotright? She said no," Draco interrupted.

"She said nothing of the kind. Ginny?"

"Oh, alright, fine," she conceded. "But only forty-five minutes."

"Nice," said Gavin, punching her playfully in the shoulder.

Ginny shifted to the side a bit so that he couldn't touch her. "You do realize that this is purely for academic purposes, right Gavin? I'm not…well, I'm not attracted to you – I'm sure that you feel the same way," she said quickly.

"Of course! This is for Arithmancy's sake only; you're top of the class beside me of course, and I just figure that if we put our heads together, we might just blow that quiz out of the water."

Ginny picked up her quill and tried to go back to her detention lines to defer Gavin from speaking to her any longer. "Sure…"

"Great. Now that that's out of the way…" He went back to 'his' seat at Snape's desk.

"How adorable," said Draco nastily. "A romantic first date in the library."

Ginny ignored him, unsure of what to say; she wasn't doing it to hack him off if that's what he assumed. But the fact that she was silent only fueled his anger.

"I'm sure that you'll have a great time. Just don't let Madam Pince catch you fooling around behind any of the bookcases; you'll both end up in detention. Won't you like that, though – detention, I mean? The whole night to yourselves to –"

Gavin smiled agreeably. "Four points from Slytherin…"

* * *

Ginny went down to the Great Hall for breakfast on Friday still feeling tense and jittery.

It was wonderful that the detentions were over – Packard didn't give her surreptitious, searching looks during class and in the halls anymore – and she didn't have to witness Draco and Gavin arguing. Life was better. However, Draco hadn't said one word to her since. He had left detention on Wednesday with a closed look and didn't even bother to antagonize Colin. She had expected an owl from him sometimes Thursday to arrange a meeting so that they could go over the library books, but nothing came.

It was rather childish of him to play the Silent Game over something so innocent, really. After all she had made it very clear that to Gavin that they weren't going on a date – she had told him that in front of Draco no less. However, if he chose to waste valuable time sulking and avoiding her, that was his problem. Ginny assured herself as she sat down that he wasn't punishing _her_, he was punishing himself. _He_ was the one that gave the whole great speech about not ignoring things, but now _he_ was the one that –

"Ginny…_Ginny_?"

"Sorry?" She snapped out of her reverie and looked across at Colin who pointed exasperatedly down at the table. "Oh!" There was an eccentric owl edging closer to her bowl, with a small roll of parchment tied to its knobby leg.

Shooing it away from the bowl Ginny hastily untied the letter and with a quick glance and Neville and Colin who were staring back at her with mute curiosity, she turned a bit away from the table to read it in private.

_Staff room tomorrow night at eight. Bring the books and take care not to be caught. Might interrupt your rendezvous with W. but don't be late._

_- M_

Ginny frowned at the mention of Gavin in the letter.

She assumed that Draco was being his normal paranoid self and signed it with simply 'M' so that there would be less of a chance to connect it back to him if it were intercepted. All the same, Ginny wondered if it would matter, as his obnoxious self shone through the words. She had to admit that he had picked a good time, though. It was a Saturday night, and so no one would be suspicious if she weren't around.

"What's all that?" asked Ron from a few places away from her, reaching for the bacon.

"A letter," Ginny responded.

"He means, 'Who is it from?' Ginny," Colin stated.

"A friend," Ginny answered, spooning more eggs onto her plate.

"What _kind_ of friend?" Ron elaborated, giving Ginny a long-suffering look.

"A Luna Lovegood kind of friend, nosy."

"I'm not being nosy; I'm being inquisitive."

"That's just a fancy way of being nosy, Ron."

He picked up his juice and drained the glass, then reached for the pitcher. "Last time I'm curious around _you_…I just thought it might have something to do with me is all."

Ginny laughed and fed the owl bacon bits as payment. It cooed and then flew away from the table, leaving behind a few feathers that fell into Neville's food. The boy picked them out with a disgusted face and reached for a new plate.

"Why on earth would it have anything to do with you?" she asked.

"I don't know!" Ron exclaimed, "I just assumed that it was from someone we both knew – you don't get many owls from anyone, Ginny."

The girl continued to laugh. "We don't have any of the same friends!"

Ron paused in pouring his juice and fixed his eyes on Ginny. "Of course we do! Harry and Hermione…and Neville and Colin…"

Ginny only shook her head. "If you say so…"

This time he put down the pitcher heavily on the table and full out stared in wonder at Ginny. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ginny's hand clenched around the fork. "Put your brain to use by thinking instead of nosing around, and I'm sure you'll find the answer."

Ron was stupefied. "_What_? Look, Ginny, I was only asking because it seemed strange that someone would owl you."

The sixth-year was driven round the bend by then.

"Oh, I like that, Ron! Why would _anyone_ want to send _me_ an owl? Even Luna Lovegood."

"Luna didn't send that owl."

Ginny halted; that had come from Neville.

With patience on a thin thread, Ginny resumed eating as calmly as she could. "As mind-boggling as it is that someone, _anyone_ would want to write me a letter, I assure you that this – though it may be a once-in-a-lifetime event – was written for me."

"I don't mean it that way at all, Ginny. Sure, someone sent you an owl, but it's not from Luna," he repeated, staring at Ginny very intently.

Ginny raised an eyebrow in a gesture of neutrality; inside her heart was beating rapidly. 'How the hell did he know?!'

"And what makes you think that, Nev?"

He looked away from Ginny very suddenly. "Well, Luna's owl is a barn owl – not like the one that just came. And it's got these huge orange eyes –"

Ginny shrugged. "For some reason she used a school owl, I suppose."

But Neville shook his head firmly. "Oh, no, Ginny; Luna would never use a school owl. She thinks there's something in their feed that manipulates their behavioral impulses, which is why they're rather disagreeable and even violent sometimes."

Hermione snorted and Ginny overcame the urge to admit that Neville was telling the truth so that he could prove the Head Girl wrong. But she knew that Hermione's reaction was more toward Luna than Neville. Hermione had always been rather touchy when it came to mentioning Luna Lovegood around Ron.

She put a hand gently on Neville's. "I really don't know, Neville, but for some reason she decided to use one today. Maybe her own is feeling under the weather and she needed to send this to me right away."

"Is the message all that urgent?" asked Harry.

"What does that matter?" Ginny asked despairingly.

"Well, seeing as you and Luna Lovegood are so chummy and all, you should know that she's got the patience of a freaking saint. If she doesn't like using school owls as much as Neville says she doesn't, she would wait until it was better."

"How kind of you to delve into Luna's mystique for me, Harry."

The black-haired boy frowned defensively. "I was only trying to help."

Ginny threw her hands up. "I don't _need_ help! This is…this is incredible!" She waved the parchment in the air quickly so that they could see the front of it, but not be able to read it. "This. Is. From. Luna. And I don't care if you believe me or not." She started to push herself away from the table but Colin reached across and stopped her.

"Ginny, wait. We don't mean to make a huge deal of it, but we're all just curious."

"Well, you can stop now."

"Fine," said Ron, eyeing Ginny skeptically. "But you didn't have to bite our heads off. You just never know who it could be these days."

Ginny picked at the remainder of her breakfast. "Not everyone believes in your conspiracy theories, Ron."

"They're usually true," shot Harry.

"Oh, but I wouldn't know anything about that, would I? Unless of course you care to share?" She stared down each of the Trio, then Neville who looked away and Colin who looked at her right back. "I didn't think so." She mashed up the eggs until they were a sunny yellow mush on her plate. "Everyone's got secrets."

Harry watched Ginny, green eyes sharp. "Including you, Ginny?"

"Why should I be any different?" she questioned him, her brown eyes guileless. "But neither is that any of your business."

"Let's just leave it alone, shall we?" proposed Ron, eager to change the subject.

Everyone nodded grudgingly but a thick silence reigned over the table.

"ACHOO!" Neville sneezed suddenly. They all looked up to see him dusting the remaining feathers of the school owl off of the table. He looked around at everyone glaring at him.

"Sorry…" he said.

* * *

"Want to help me make up some more stuff for Divination?"

Ginny shrugged. "Sure, I'm always up for conning Trelawney." She plunked down next to Colin and picked up a quill.

"Here," he said giving her his parchment. "This is what I've come up with so far."

"Not bad, not bad," she told him. "It could do with some work, though." She scribbled something down and then sat back.

The blond boy proofread it. "It'll do…I just need to tweak it like so…"

Ginny laughed. "Please; as if Advanced Divination is anything more than an advanced course in guessing."

"You always say that Ginny, but really, some people _do_ have that Inner Eye thing. In my class there's a Ravenclaw girl who really Sees stuff; I mean really. You can tell she's not lying. Just yesterday we did an exercise in reading scattered flowers and she saw that she would trip down the ladder. So she was really careful in walking down, but Mavis was behind her…"

Ginny winced. "She alright?"

Colin waved it off. "Sprained ankle; Pomfrey fixed it up in less then five minutes."

"What did _you_ see?"

"A lot of dead tulips," said Colin, and he went back to writing. A few minutes later he looked up at his friend. "Yeah, so, what did Luna want?"

Ginny could see that Colin was nervous that she would go berserk on him and nudged him with her arm. "Only to go looking for some more magical creatures."

"Flintwomps?"

Ginny laughed. "Possibly."

"D'you think she'll come back up to the castle with a load of rocks again?"

"Probably."

Colin stared. "Will you?"

"Maybe."

He shook his head sadly. "She's going to turn you."

"Hey, Luna's nice!" Ginny protested. "Right, Neville?" she asked the seventh-year who had just walked inside the portrait.

He looked at Ginny warily. "What?"

The two sixth-years laughed and went back to doing homework. "Nothing, nothing."

Neville headed for the boys' staircase and Ginny watched his tall frame disappear.

"I hate to bring it up, you know…" Colin said suddenly, "But this morning, when you said you had secrets…would you keep them from me?"

"Colin –" Ginny started.

"I'm not asking to be knowledgeable of your every move or anything like that," he said hastily. "I just mean if there was something going on with you, if you were getting into…something…you'd feel okay telling me, right?"

Ginny bit the inside of her lip in dismay. "As soon as I felt that I couldn't handle it," she said carefully, "I'd come to you right away." And that was all that Ginny felt she could give without being an outright liar. Her best friend nodded and resumed his work. Ginny decided that it might be beneficial to do the same, still thinking about the quick damage control that she had had to pull off earlier on in the day.

After lunch Ginny had watched Luna walk up to the castle from Care of Magical Creatures alone. As soon as the girl disappeared behind the large doors, Ginny had turned to Colin and told him that she forgot the book for their next class in her room and that she would meet him there. Colin assented and Ginny sprinted up the stairs and all but attacked Luna from behind. Ginny had asked the Ravenclaw if she wanted to go looking for some more creatures on the weekend and with a flowery 'yes' and a request to go hunting on Saturday, Luna agreed.

It was imperative that Ginny seek out the Ravenclaw as soon as possible before anyone went to check Ginny's story. She forced the negative feeling away that she was using Luna for her own purposes; after all the two had agreed that they would go out again sometime. Ginny allowed herself to feel more than a little clever. The Trio had nothing on her.

The real person she had to worry about was Colin: the way interrogated her never made her angry; it gave her a guilt trip.

* * *

"And I suppose that's really all there is to it," Ginny said in an unemotional tone.

It was Saturday. And she was in hell.

"That's very interesting," Gavin said enthusiastically, not put off by Ginny's monosyllabic tone. "It's very strange that you figured out something so simple, whereas I needed further instruction to understand it."

Ginny grit her teeth and smiled; restraining herself against smashing the heavy textbook against Gavin's head.

"Glad to have been of service. If it shocks you so much, though, you could have always come to the library _by your own miserable self_ and checked out a book. Professor Vector _did_ tell us that there was a book with tons of past examples of this very equation. I wouldn't have had to waste," she checked her watch, "thirty-five wretched minutes explaining it to you when you obviously don't appreciate how difficult it was for me to shove knowledge into your self-obsessed brain." Ginny was almost short of breath by the time she finished her rant.

Gavin closed the textbook and folded his hands on top of it. "Is there a problem, Ginny?"

"Aargh!"

"Would you like to leave the library, Miss Weasley?" Ginny looked across the vast room to see Madam Pince staring at her with the eyes of a viper.

"No, I'm sorry," Ginny spoke up meekly.

"Shhh!" was her answer.

The redhead put a hand to her temple and gave it a massage. Altruism was overrated.

"You know what, Gavin? I think I'll go." She pushed her chair out to stand and threw her notes together, risking another threatening look from Madam Pince.

Gavin stood as well and held Ginny's arm; she gave him a long look and he released her. "There were just a few more things I needed help figuring out. Maybe we could discuss it over lunch?"

"I am not interested in spending any more time with you, Gavin," Ginny forced out. "Just leave me alone."

"I can't do that!" he exclaimed.

"Miss Weasley!"

"Sorry, Madam Pince! Gavin, I'm going now. Good day."

He smiled as an effort to cover up his outburst. "It's rather selfish of you to hold out on whatever knowledge you possess when I'm in obvious need of it. This quiz is –"

"Not all that important in the long run. It's certainly not worth spending any more of my time on you."

Ginny ran an agitated hand through her hair with one hand and clutched her books closer to her chest with the other. Gavin crossed his arms.

"Mmhmm…Oh, I see…_you_ want to be top of the class, don't you? You want to shove me out of that spot, so you can rest your little head there? So how long have you been coveting my position, Ginevra? I really am sorry that you didn't make prefect, but that's no reason to exact revenge on me –"

"I can't be any more polite to you than I have been, Wotright," Ginny hissed. "I _won't_ be. So stop harassing me before we make a scene."

Gavin tapped his foot twice on the floor and sighed with finality. "I once fancied that I could compare you to Hermione Granger. How silly of me."

Ginny flushed deeply.

"Isn't this lovely? He's whispering sweet nothings into your ear and you're blushing becomingly. I might be sick."

Ginny shifted her eyes to the area behind Gavin and almost fainted with relief.

"Draco!" Gavin's eyes went wide at Ginny's familiar tone and she tried to cover it up quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"You are well on your way to being thrown out and banned for the remainder of this month!"

"_Sorry, Madam Pince_!"

"Trouble?" Draco inquired.

"I asked you a question first," Ginny insisted.

Draco sneered and bumped past Gavin roughly; even so, the prefect didn't have to stumble as dramatically as he did. The blond took up space between Ginny and the other boy.

"Just _copying_ a few things. Unlike other people who came here to chat, I'm here for a real purpose."

"And I'm not?" she questioned. He was acting high-and-mighty just because he was making the copies of the Reference Book? She was the one that had checked them all out.

"I've always known a study group to have at least three people; a smaller crowd indicates a desire for extra privacy."

Gavin stuck up a finger as if to make a point. "I know what you're insinuating, Malfoy, but it's terribly incorrect. I don't want anything to do with Ginny anymore. She's not the person I once thought she was."

"You're even lower that I thought _you_ were, Wotright, so keep quiet."

"Oh, don't argue, Weasley. That's one thing that the bloke's been right about in his life."

In contrast to her relaxation at and welcome at seeing Draco, Ginny went tense. She thought that Draco might be a reprieve from Gavin, but he was much worse.

Looking from Gavin to Draco, Ginny leaned in and slammed her chair into the table so that it was not in the aisle.

"MISS WEASLEY –!" shrieked Madame Pince.

But she was already gone by then.

* * *

Ginny angrily stomped her way to the Great Hall, but wondered if she should change direction when she was halfway there. She thought for a moment and then decided to go on, as she hadn't had anything to eat since very early that morning, and she hadn't seen Colin either since breakfast; he was the only person that could get her out of the temper she was in caused by one Draco Malfoy.

After lazing about with Colin the night before she had been in a relatively good mood when she woke up that morning. She and Colin had gone to breakfast together and then split when he went off to hunt for good shots. Of course Colin had invited her along, but Ginny knew that all the photographer would be doing was taking landscape shots of the grounds, which usually meant that they would trek all over for hours upon hours. She had gone through that experience before and found it indelibly boring – still-lifes weren't nearly as interesting as shots with actual people in them. Besides, she was going to be walking around with Luna after lunch; there wasn't a point in doing it twice.

So instead she went back up to her room and arranged the books that she and Draco were planning on studying in the very bottom of her pack. She even made sure to put a jumper over them, just in case someone might look in them; it wouldn't really do anything if they poked around, but it made Ginny feel a bit safer.

There was still a lot of time to lounge around and so Ginny searched for Neville, but he was nowhere to be found. She wondered if he was back down by the Greenhouses. That would have been odd as the plants that Neville usually planted or preened needed at least a few weeks to be checked on, but then again Ginny had no idea of the extent of Neville's pet projects.

So, resigning herself to sitting alone on the couch – she hadn't bothered to search for her brother and the rest as she wasn't particularly fond of dealing with them at the moment – Ginny settled for thinking back to Wednesday night. She tried to feel angry about the way she had…behaved with Draco, but the feeling just wouldn't come. The only thing she had succeeded in doing was smiling a bit dazedly and frowning when she caught herself at it. In actuality, Ginny felt strangely blank.

She wouldn't mind if it happened again – not by a long shot; but if it became a regular occurrence did that mean that they were…_something_? What would they be? Would it count as a relationship if her family killed him? Was she thinking about it too deeply? Was Draco thinking about it enough?

And as she had succeeded in asking herself more questions than procuring answers, Ginny grabbed her Arithmancy textbook and went to meet Gavin. He sat there with his smug smile from the moment she walked in and it had been uphill battling for the rest of the time.

Colin hadn't understood why Ginny even agreed to do it in the first place when she told him about it Friday night. For a few minutes he became very worried and asked if Ginny was (this in a hushed voice) "_interested_ in Gavin _that_ way". With firm assurance, Ginny had eased his mind of concerns that she was falling madly in love with one of the scummiest people in the world. Ginny had done it for extra insurance that Gavin wouldn't check Madam Pomfrey's log to see if Ginny and Draco had gone to the Infirmary Wednesday night; it would be too easy to find out that they hadn't and then he would go blabbing to Professor Packard. Ginny wondered if she and Draco could use his entering the castle and hiding something as blackmail against him; however Gavin hadn't acted very guilty afterward. Of course he hadn't told them what he'd been doing, but Ginny and Draco weren't exactly spilling the details of their night either. It was a dead end.

"Finished already? I thought you had at least fifteen more minutes with the beast," Colin said when Ginny sat down next to him.

"I couldn't take anymore! Do you know that he had the audacity to compare me to Hermione and then say that I _couldn't_ compare to her at all! If he wanted to study with _her_, he should have asked."

"With Ron around? Ginny, he wouldn't have dared ask another bloke's girl to revise with him – alone. Even Wotright understands that that's taboo."

"Well, don't I have a boyfriend too?"

"Don't get all defensive; you haven't introduced any of us to him."

Ginny paused. "You do have a point there…" She sighed. "Just keep Gavin away from me."

"You keep _yourself_ away from him," Colin shot back. "You're the one who agreed to the whole thing."

"Remember that I was also in the presence of a Slytherin, I was not of sound mind."

Colin laughed appreciatively and Ginny smiled. As of late she had declined to participate in Slytherin bashing as she was dealing with one on the sly – it would have made her hypocritical. At the moment, though, Draco deserved it.

They needed to keep up appearances of enmity in public, but his display in the library made her furious. It wasn't enough that she had to deal with Gavin, but he had to gang up on her at the same time? He would hear it from her later.

* * *

"Have you found anything yet, Ginny?"

"No. Do you want me to keep looking?"

"I'm going to sit down; I'll watch you if you decide to go on."

Ginny chose to rest with Luna. They hadn't found anything: the search for Flintwomps had ended a half hour before and went on to other creatures that could be hiding around.

Spotting a nice patch of grass in an area with sun, Ginny patted her robes around her. There wasn't much sun left to sit in and the wind was picking up a little, but it wasn't all that cold yet.

Luna sat next to her and eyed her speculatively. "What do you want to talk about? You're not one for awkward silences."

"How about _The Quibbler_?" Ginny suggested. "Does your father ever let you intern for it? You always seem to know a lot about it."

"Naturally," Luna said. "As you know he's the editor. He sends people out to find the most interesting stories out there, and luckily we're very fortunate and end up getting them before the other newspapers. As they're rather intimidated by the exclusives we get, they don't often use the same stories we do."

Ginny smiled. "That's true; I don't think anyone else ever used that story about Fudge being a goblin eater."

Luna shrugged. "It wouldn't have been the same if anyone else used it; they'd only have gotten second best. I'm going to ask you a question."

The redhead blinked at the sudden change of topic. "Er, go on then."

"Why do you care about _The Quibbler_? Other people choose to take our stories lightly even when there's enough proof to suggest that it should be treated with the utmost gravity."

Ginny searched for a way to say what she thought without hurting the other girl's feelings.

"Be honest. I'm sure that whatever you have to say wouldn't insult me as much as other things I've heard."

Ginny nodded. "Well, Luna, you say there's enough proof to show that all of these miraculous things and creatures exist…but really, there's really only the bare minimum. And even _that_ is rooted in mystery and superstition. Not everyone is going to take you seriously."

"I don't need everyone. It only takes a few."

"But a few aren't going to make a change! You and I could search out here all day looking for…for Flintwomps and things. And suppose that at least one other person at Hogwarts thinks I've got credibility…" Ginny said with a slightly bitter overtone as she remembered how willing everyone was at breakfast to believe that no one would want to write her. "But if they heard me talking about these animals with you, they'd only think that _I_ was…well…"

"A 'nutter', as they say? Certifiable? A _luna_tic?" provided the other girl.

Ginny flushed. "Yeah…"

"That's only the product of commiserating with people such as your brother and Hermione Granger," said Luna without malevolence.

All the same Ginny was unsure of whether she should be insulted on her brother's behalf or hear the other girl out.

"I thought you liked Ron."

Luna smiled brightly. "Oh, I do! I take to him very well; just as Bulgarian Fire Spirits take to hearths! That does not change the matter though, that other people are far more open-minded than Ron Weasley. Like Neville Longbottom for example."

Ginny was a bit doubtful. "I don't think that Neville would believe in Bulgarian Fire Spirits any more than Ron would."

"But Neville Longbottom would believe enough in _me_, wouldn't he; at least enough to retain the doubt that they may exist?"

Not wanting to speak badly of her brother Ginny imitated Luna's previous shrug. "I suppose so."

"Does that mean that you are a Neville Longbottom, Ginny? You're spending time with me looking for these animals. Do you believe that they _may_ exist, even with scant proof?"

Ginny smiled reluctantly. "I suppose so."

Luna beamed. "Then I'm glad that in some ways you're nothing like your brother."

* * *

Ginny opened pushed the door open and it eased inward noiselessly; it then closed behind her without a sound.

"You're late."

The girl only briefly flicked her eyes up in indication that she had heard any voice at all. Draco hid his surprise; he had expected her to shriek and threaten him for scaring her.

"I usually am so you shouldn't be very shocked."

Ginny set her bag down next to the small one-seater across from Draco and flicked her wand for more light in the room. It had been very dim when she walked in, and the firelight cast more shadow than glow. The blond lounged insolently in an over-stuffed chair as if the room was made for him, staring at Ginny intently; watching her every move. There weren't any books on the table like she expected, but there were a few sheets of parchment in plain view.

"Were you going for the whole dramatic, menacing figure-sitting-in-the-dark theme? Voldemort's got that covered, so there's no need for you to make an ass of yourself copying him," Ginny said idly, sitting down. She wasn't in the mood for his taunts or jokes, not after the episode in the library.

Draco was unfazed. "It wouldn't have been dark if you had come earlier. But you were playing it up with Wotright so I wouldn't expect you to know that."

Ginny's eyes flashed angrily. "You were there when I left, and I didn't go off to find him later. If anything, _you_ were the one having fun with Gavin. Did you bond much while you were making jokes at my expense?"

"Not nearly as much as I would have liked."

Ginny paused for a long moment. "Let's get this over with. I don't want to be anywhere near you right now."

"You weren't saying that Wednesday night," said Draco.

"Flip your head out of your arse for a second, and remember that I did say I was against a relationship with you – more than once, I might add. But you were too busy feeling me up to notice."

Against his will, a pink hue tinted the blond's cheeks.

"I wasn't the only one enjoying it," he said accusatorily, remembering the feel of Ginny's body pressed between him and the table.

"No, you weren't," Ginny admitted. "But you're the only one acting like a prat now."

"Why did you meet with him, Ginny?"

The redhead let the question roll off of her, unaffected by the use of her proper name, and went to take the books she had been storing in her room for the past few days out. If he wanted to be deaf, blind, and stupid she would let him; there was no cause for her to wallow around in his obnoxiousness with him.

"It's obvious enough."

Draco grated his teeth. "You'll have to spell it out for me. Why would you waste more of your time on Wotright?"

Increasingly furious at the self-righteous tone in the Slytherin's words, Ginny gave him a ruthless look. "For hugs and tender, calculated movements."

She went back to rummaging through her bag and tried to ignore the thick silence that had enveloped the room. Draco had gone rigid as a board, but Ginny refused to give him the satisfaction of looking up.

'He deserves it,' she thought. Did he understand how it felt to be constantly treated like the lowest of creatures? To have everyone in the world step on you but not notice that you were right underfoot? To be compared to bloody _Hermione Granger_ not long after finding out that your own father would keep things from you? Draco had no idea –

How good that felt…

He had come up behind her and kissed her neck languorously, stilling any protests before they began. Draco took his time to torture her that way before turning her face so that it met his. His thumb caressed her cheek and he pulled away, resting his lips near her ear.

"I just wanted to give you something to compare to Wotright," he whispered. Ginny's body seized up so rapidly in his arms that he took a step back.

Ginny stared at him, rapidly feeling disgust overcome desire. She wished she had the nerve to slap him clear across the room.

"I didn't do _anything_ with Gavin and you know it," she said with cold fury. "What kind of person are you to kiss me like that and then say…and then act like…Was it to _punish_ me, Draco? Is this whole thing a stupid plot to humiliate me? Did you pick the Lucky Weasley Girl to help you along so that you could degrade her and –"

"I've never said that," Draco said forcefully, hints of color at his cheeks, which proved that he was aware of how feckless his words were after the kiss. "I thought that you might be…a good choice or something to that extent."

"Then stop treating me like some object you just bought at Hogsmeade! Some…some _whore_ you picked up round the way, because –"

"You're not a whore to me, and only your warped mind would pick that out of the air!"

"Then why the hell am I here?! You figured that even a poor Weasley wouldn't mind screwing you in a 'secret' room in some obscure part of the castle?" She laughed cuttingly. "I'd just like to know how many other girls you've pushed up against these very walls and got a good feel out of it."

Draco's face was stony. "I suppose that it's nice to know how you truly feel. And so now that it's out in the open I suppose that I should share as well. I chose you out of the entire school because you stuck out to me. I didn't need someone that _I_ could trust necessarily, but someone who I knew would value trust above all else. I wanted someone who was intelligent, unobtrusive, was sly – or showed potential for it; and you interested me. I couldn't pick anyone else because there _isn't_ anyone else; wanting you was just an added bonus. And I've _never_ showed any other girl, whore, or house-elf this room – there hasn't been a need to. If it bothers you just ever so much that I touch you, then I won't make the mistake of doing it again." His breathing was slightly uneven with the effort to keep himself unemotional, but it wasn't working.

Ginny shook her head unapologetically. "I'm not angry that you kissed me," she refuted, staring him down. "I'm angry that you would use it for revenge, so don't put the guilt trip on me. I don't much want to look at you right now, but I came here for a reason. Let's not talk anymore about…whatever there is between us and concentrate on the case at hand."

Feeling tortured, Draco watched Ginny turn away from him and take out her own notes. A small part of him admitted that what he had said and done to her was wrong, but he wasn't quite ready to apologize and grovel for forgiveness. He was embarrassed enough that he had allowed his…apathy for Gavin Wotright to make him behave so childishly, but he felt quite righteously that Ginny shouldn't have spent any more time around the prefect than was necessary.

At the moment, though, there were more pressing matters to be discussed, so he nodded, and watched as the redhead straightened herself up and faced the books.

She took in a deep breath, determined to be civil. "So how did the copying go?"

Draco looked at her evenly. "As best as can be expected when I expected much more?"

Ginny frowned. "What do you mean?"

"There weren't nearly as many articles in that book as you let on."

"You're the one who told me to look at it –" Ginny began defensively.

"Because there was a goldmine of information there, but today all that I could find was a fraction of that size. That information was irreplaceable and it didn't just leak out."

"Maybe you got the wrong book."

"I didn't."

Ginny sighed. "Let's not argue. I was thinking of something today when I was with Luna, but I didn't think it would be necessary –"

"Well spit it out."

"I'm getting there! Luna's dad is editor of _The Quibbler_, so he sees most of the articles that go into each issue. I know he's worked there for a very long time, so wouldn't it be possible like you said a while ago, that other newspapers might have the same topics as the _Prophet_?"

"_The Quibbler_ doesn't exactly cover normal current events unless they're events that aren't real at all."

Ginny was undeterred. "That may be true in some sense, but if you've ever read a recent issue –"

"I haven't."

"– You'll see that they do write about things that people would consider 'normal'; like about Fudge and the goings-on in the Ministry and such. Besides, most of the articles that I got a glimpse of when I looked at that Reference Book were dated far back. I'm sure that _The Quibbler_ hasn't always been so…eccentric with its articles, so they might have some really good stuff in there."

"What are you proposing? Are you going to ask Lovegood to see old articles?"

Ginny nodded enthusiastically. "There must be back issues lying around, or an archive of some sort. I could ask her to ask her father to pick out the one's pertaining to just Alfred Tinelle and we could sort them out."

Draco had a few arguments about that plan, but didn't voice them. For one thing it sounded like a lot of work to ask one man to look for articles from decades ago; and then he'd probably want a reason. But if Ginny wanted to venture into such an undertaking, far be it from him to stop her. Instead he glanced at her.

"So you were with Loony Lovegood today?"

"I certainly wasn't with Gavin Wotright if that's what you're insinuating," she snapped. Undeniably pleased, Draco left it at that.

"Have you read the other books that you checked out?"

"No, I wanted to wait until we could do it together so that I wouldn't have to retell all of what I read."

The blond shrugged. "I'll just take two of these books then, and keep notes on them – I'll spell them over for secrecy, of course – and you can take the other and get the information from Lovegood."

Ginny quietly agreed and put her pick of the lot back in her bag. Draco watched her curiously but discreetly.

"Did Pomfrey fix your hand?" he asked indifferently.

"First thing this morning." Ginny peered up at the boy across from her, brown eyes questioning. "Crabbe and Goyle were out last night, you know – they were in the Hospital Wing when I went in."

Draco flipped through the books in his hands. "The sorry lumps must have gotten up early. I didn't even hear them leave."

"Yeah…" Ginny said. "Do you know what they were doing out?"

He sniffed distastefully. "Stuffing their faces I presume?"

"Well they certainly got more than they bargained for; there was a tussle with Mrs. Norris – they got three weeks detention."

"No points taken off?" Ginny shook her head 'no'. "Good, because they wouldn't be able to earn it back during class."

Ginny smiled a bit at that, but she still had a few more questions. "Did you ever – you and the Slytherins, I mean – talk about the rest of us?"

Draco's brow rose in question. "You mean your brother and his consorts? Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, really," said Ginny. "It's just that they knew my name."

"Your first name?"

"Well, no…they called me Weasley."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Big deal. Anyone can spot a Weasley from mile away, and with all the crap we've given you over the years, of course they'll know who you are."

Ginny folded her hands. "So you admit what you do to us is crap?"

"Sure," said Draco. "But I don't admit it's _wrong_ if that's what you're trying to get at."

Ginny thought that he probably never would.

* * *

That is all! And here are the:

Replies: **seekerpeeker** I really must thank you for all of the reviews that you've given over all of the chapters so far. I love any reviews that I get, but yours especially have helped out a lot because you point things out. 1- I laughed when you said that the first chap. was nothing, because I feel the same way. It's like this non-entity of a chapter, but I needed somewhere to start off. When I stop being lazy, I might take some of the second chapter and put it into the end of the first to expand it and pick up the plot quicker. 2- I'm glad you picked up on Ginny and Hermione sharing a dorm; I've fixed it. 3- It _is_ annoying for Ginny to be so hung up on the Trio. It's sort of pitiful. Part of that is needed, though she's finally started to get the message. Wow. That was a long reply. Anyway, muchas gracias for the careful reading, questions, and comments. I love them. **youngwriter56**. I really doubt that any chapter will be as long as the last one was because it probably took awhile to read, but thanks for reviewing despite it. And yes, I'm taking your warning very seriously, lol. Thanks for reviewing. **tasha** Wow, that was so nice of you. And no, I will definitely NOT abandon this fic. I promise, and I know other authors have said that before (I feel like I'm offering my everlasting love to you), but I told myself that I wouldn't post any multi-chaptered stories unless I planned on finishing them. Now…_late_ updates are another story, I sometimes take a while to post, but don't think I've left it, I'm just being lazy or busy, or have writer's block. Thanks again for the nice review. **DragonSpitfire22** 22 is my favorite number; must be my lucky day! Thank you for reviewing. **skygazing** I'm glad you like long chapters, although I don't know if anymore will be _that_ long again, but who knows? **Numbly Breaking** Woot! I'm a god! What kind of powers do I have? Lol, thank you so much for reviewing, I always look forward to reading them. I want Ginny to hit Gavin so much, I can't stand him either. But I have to admit that he's fun to write. **Starrynight1231 **It's funny because it was ridiculously hot when I was writing this chapter, and I thought I was going to pass out. Thank you for the review! **eedoe** I know what you mean about the H/G versus D/G trouble. I love Harry so much, so sometimes I feel terrible taking Ginny away from him. But Draco needs love too! Thanks soo much for the review! **pamie884** Thank you so much for all of your reviews! **voided** (cool name) I'm glad you enjoyed it! It was fun to write. **Isadora** Your reviews aren't nerdy at all. I was pleasantly surprised that you reviewed so much. I wish I could say how many chapters are up ahead, but I won't even attempt to – I know that I'd be wrong. Thanks again!

Thank you all so much for the reviews, and suggestions and comments! I love them and keep 'em coming!

- Femme


	11. Eleven

Author's Notes: Wow. It's been a long time, hasn't it? But please don't throw anything; I promised that I'd never abandon a story, and I'll keep to that. And one good thing that was gained by the wait was that I've got a new beta: eedoe. It is thanks to her that this chapter makes sense and runs as smoothly as it does, so I'm very grateful for her help. Now, without further ado, let's continue on with the show. Sorry once again for the wait. 

Disclaimer: I don't own or pretend to own Harry Potter or any of the characters associated with him. Let's chug along, then.

_Miss Cellophane_

* * *

Ginny promptly set to the task of approaching Luna so that she could obtain documented information on Alfred Tinelle.

All she and Draco had to go on, at the moment, was what Rita Skeeter printed – and everyone who mattered knew that Rita Skeeter's articles were hardly worth owl cage linings. The harpy was even worse now that she had somehow finagled her way into getting such a popular scoop. Ginny refused to read such tripe. She had absolutely no money to subscribe to any publication at all, but if funds _were_ available, she'd not be buying anything in which Rita Skeeter's name was involved.

And that was why she wanted to enlist Luna's help. _The Quibbler_ was practically wholesome family fun compared to all of the violence being documented in other news sources.

'_But, The Quibbler isn't sensational whatsoever_…' said a dry, sardonic voice in her mind. Ginny silenced it without delay; she didn't have the time to play Devil's Advocate.

If only Luna weren't so difficult to _find_! It was evident to all that the dotty girl had very few friends, and Ginny had yet to understand if that should have made it more, or less difficult to scout her out. After searching for the mystifying blonde all Sunday, Ginny had given up and retreated to her dorm, not bothering to spare anyone a greeting – not that there was anyone around to spare a greeting to.

Ron was frittering off with Hermione, and Harry was probably off brooding. As unfair as it was, Ginny definitely didn't want to speak to Colin. He was far too _un_complicated; it made her feel unstable. It might have been nice to speak to Neville; only he was nowhere to be found, either.

So, by light of the huddle of candles upon the windowsill, Ginny finished up the rest of her assignments alone in her room. The hours swam by, and when she heard the sounds of her dorm mates coming up the stairs, she quickly banished all of her books and papers under the bed, and drew up the covers until not a centimeter of lace trim from her nightgown was apparent. Her first order of business on coming upstairs had been to change into her nightclothes in the event that she fell asleep prematurely, so that was no issue.

The real trouble lie in stilling her heartbeat fast enough to fall into Dreamland before the other girls' voices filtered in. As of late, Ginny found herself rushing to be in another realm of consciousness when their chirpings about family and boys surrounded her. She wanted to be dead to the world before she was forced to wonder why nothing about family and "young love" seemed as joyous to her as it did to them.

* * *

It finally came to pass that almost a week after meeting with her favorite Slytherin, Ginny was able to pin Luna down. It was ironic that soon after she'd started speaking to the girl on a regular basis, it had become trickier to procure her, and it had only happened this time by chance. The Ravenclaw had implanted in Ginny a newfound affinity for being outdoors.

Or maybe, Ginny thought, as she circuited the area around Hagrid's hut, it was not a newfound desire, but a rediscovered one.

No one could grow up a Weasley child and not spend half of one's days flitting through tall thickets of magical wood or being submersed in a pond. But as the years went on, Ginny found that her world had gradually folded in upon itself, until it consisted mostly of brick and or stone fortresses in which the air itself felt stifled. As the evils of the world increased, spots where she could feel _good_ decreased; the people she felt _happiness_ with drifted away, when there hadn't been very many in the first place. But Luna had given it back to her and Ginny _still_ had more to ask of her.

Drifting by a spot where she had hunted for imaginary (or maybe not so imaginary) creatures, Ginny glanced at Greenhouse Four and saw Neville's tall, stooping figure huddling over a very large pot. She watched as he looked to his right at something she could not see, laughed, and turned his head back to his work.

Curious as always, Ginny made her way up the well-trodden path that led to one of the more dangerous plant houses. Neville noticed her presence only when she was halfway through the door, and he looked as if he was very surprised to see anyone at all.

"Hey, Nev," Ginny said, when the door shut behind her.

Hands deeply entrenched in the ceramic pot before him Neville only returned the greeting with a sheepish sort of smile.

"Wotcher," he saluted, going back to massaging the soil between his fingers; Ginny heard something squeal contentedly. "What brings you down here?"

Ginny shrugged, coming to stand beside him. "I was taking a walk around the lake. No one's really around to talk to in the common room, and you know how I live to be entertained." She peered inside of the pot. "I'm not entirely sure I'd have spoken to anyone, anyway," she admitted.

"I know what you mean," Neville said, not looking up. "It's just…just one of those days, I suppose."

"Or maybe one of those weeks," Ginny corrected. "You haven't been around much lately. Is everything --?"

"They were behind the purple tin of Bowtruckle lice. I told you that you might find them there since Viridian Soil is found very near Crumple-Horned Snorkack habitations and… Oh, hello, Ginny," Luna said brightly, noticing the redhead beside Neville. "I've just found the plant food Neville needed. Was he going to ask you to help me?"

"Oh, er, no, I don't think so…" Ginny replied, looking at Luna first and then back to Neville. His smallish ears were red, and it wasn't due to the light. Something was…off?

"You might not know what Viridian Soil is," Neville offered, after an awkward pause Luna seemed to be unaware of. "It's going to be introduced to Professor Sprout's sixth years on Tuesday. She asked me to prepare it."

"Extra credit?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, actually."

"And Neville Longbottom, of all people, needs herbology extra credit," Luna said very seriously, fully coming out of the shadow of the back room.

He shook his head energetically. "I don't mind doing it. 'S better than mucking out the magical creatures' pen." He pulled a face. "I wouldn't do that if Hagrid looked like the lead singer of Thirteen Fridays!" After a moment his features froze awkwardly and he sent shifty glances Luna's way.

It was a known fact that there was a current obsession with Cornelia Twitt, head vocalist of the all female band Neville had just mentioned. Ginny always thought that with a name like 'Twitt', the blonde woman should have nothing to croon over; but then again, nor did Ginny, with a name such as 'Weasley'. Furthermore, she'd none of the assets – vocal or otherwise – to supplement it.

"So you keep saying," said Luna, airily and evenly, though Ginny would bet her favorite robes that Neville had never said anything of the sort before.

Luna pried the top off of a cylindrical container. _**Myrna Farmington's Viridian Goop**: Giggles in Every Goober!_, Ginny read off the side of the jar. Luna leaned over Neville's arm and poured a generous amount of the slimy green substance into the ceramic plant pot. Amidst the growing chortles inside the soil, Ginny looked up to see a reddish hue on Neville's face.

_Nothing's off_. Ginny realized with an inward smile. _Something's very, very on._

"Might I borrow Luna off you for a minute, Neville?" Ginny asked with a guileless smile.

Neville's brows drew together seeming to hear something unsettling in Ginny's tone. "Of course. Ask _her_."

"I might be able to leave for a moment," Luna said lightly. "Provided that he remembers to spread Myrna's Goop evenly throughout the pot. Last week he left too much on the top, and they didn't giggle at all."

"Erm, will do," Neville said blankly, and watched the two girls step out of the greenhouse.

Once outside, Ginny led Luna a bit off the path in the off chance that there were any invisible ears.

"Sorry for disrupting your… yours and Neville's…"

"Extra credit?" Luna supplied helpfully.

"Exactly," said Ginny. "See, I've sort of got another favor to ask of you, and it's something rather substantial which is why I needed to speak to you privately."

Luna bobbed her head encouragingly. "Go on."

Ginny gave her a half-smile. Here was the hard part. "I know that we had our career advice meetings last year, but I'm still thinking about what I'd like to do in the future, of course. Most of the pamphlets that we were given centered on more magical focused jobs – like auror work and stuff."

"Magical stuff," asked Luna, "isn't what you're interested in?"

"I don't necessarily have an aversion to that type of thing," Ginny clarified. "But being around Colin has made me think of other lines of work. Such as reporting."

"_Reporting_?" Luna breathed. "That's a very noble area. We _do_ need more journalists with wider spectrums of thought, these days."

"That's what Colin said," Ginny quipped, fingers twisted so tightly behind her back she feared they'd pop. "As it stands, though, I haven't got enough experience to fill the _Prophet's_ crossword puzzle, more less a whole column – which is what I'd eventually like to have."

"That might not be a bad thing. Last Sunday, the answers to five down and thirty-seven across were 'propaganda' and 'goblineaters', respectively."

Ginny's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "I hadn't noticed."

Luna shrugged and fingered the necklace of daisies above her collarbone. Ginny wondered where she had gotten them so late in the year. "Don't worry. You're not the only one. Most people aren't aware that there is a new campaign in the _Prophet_ using subliminal messages. It's really quite a wicked thing to do to people, but there you are."

"Definitely. Anyway, I was thinking of honing my skills by researching the latest stories; and the one that came to mind first was the recent article about Alfred Tinelle."

Luna blinked, but said nothing, so Ginny plunged on.

"In the last edition of _The Quibbler_, I saw that there was a really interesting article on him – right after the one about the rabid Fire Wraith sighting in Edinburgh."

"Ooh," Luna said agreeably. "That's one of Daddy's favorites; he was able to arrange an actual interview with the woman who survived the encounter."

"So I read," said Ginny. "And it made me realize that your dad must have really good resources: that woman didn't give an interview to any other paper. I started wondering if your father had access to any back issues of _The Quibbler_ – ones with old stories on Mr. Tinelle. He's a rather respected wizard." She hesitated. "Tinelle, I mean. Well, at least he _was_, and so there should be information about his personal history somewhere, you know?"

"How far back would you like to go?"

Ginny thought for a moment. "Fifteen to twenty five years?"

Luna meandered forward at a leisurely pace. "Daddy hardly ever throws anything of importance out. I imagine he'd have editorials ranging from Wizard Tinelle to the Leprechaun Gold Extortion case sixty years ago."

An image of great mounds of yellowing magazines and newspapers surrounded by various oddities sprang up in Ginny's mind. She saw Luna and a kind, but faceless man (as she had never actually seen Mr. Lovegood), sorting through them.

"So you're saying it's possible?" Ginny asked eagerly. "I mean for him to lend me a few copies."

"It should be; I'll write to Daddy and see what he says." She clasped her hands together in an unusually businesslike manner. "In the mean time, you should send him in an owl as well. He'd love to hear directly from a fan of the paper."

A grin split across Ginny's face. "I'll do that then!"

Luna only responded with a wide-eyed, cursory nod. Without any further exchange of words she turned round to return to the greenhouses.

With a smile still on her face, but a lingering question on her tongue, Ginny called her back before she was too far away.

"Luna?"

The girl turned. "Ginny?"

The redhead kicked up a bit of dirt. "Say, I saw this really gorgeous owl in the owlery the other day. I've been asking around to see whose it is. Is it yours?"

Luna let out an abrupt shot of laughter. "Do you know what's in that owl feed up there? Rodge prefers flying about the castle; he finds places to stay."

"All right," Ginny shouted back. "Just wondering!"

Ginny chuckled a little to herself as she trudged contentedly up the hill to the castle. Something was _definitely_ on.

* * *

"What've you got there?"

Ginny looked around sharply at a hovering Colin, her hand stilling over the parchment. She really needed to stop fidgeting.

After seeing Luna, Ginny had gone up to the castle to draft a letter to Mr. Lovegood, summarizing why she wanted such a cache of information in the first place, and adding a few anecdotes about interesting stories she'd read in _The Quibbler_. Ginny had looked the parchment over more than a few times, wanting to make sure that it didn't sound too contrived. Her story may have been, well, _spurious_…but her intentions were sincere, at least.

"Only a letter," she said, slipping it into her pocket.

"Was that what you spent so much time writing upstairs?" Colin quizzed.

"Yeah, only I hadn't realized how late it had gotten, or else I would've hurried up and mailed it before dinner."

"You _were_ awfully involved; the clock read _'Suppertime for growing children!'_ for at least fifteen minutes before you even looked up." Colin turned to the rest of the group. "I had to remind her to come down here."

"And how I do so appreciate it, Colin," Ginny sighed with affected wistfulness. "There are so few babysitters worth their salt these days…do remind me to look both ways when we leave the Great Hall."

"Why don't I just owl Mum for one of the twins' old kiddy leashes," suggested Ron. "Save ourselves some peace of mind."

Ginny snorted. "Don't forget to ask for my footy pajamas." They all laughed. "Honestly, though, when Bill told me about those things I nearly laughed my head off."

"The pajamas or the leashes?" asked a grinning Harry.

"The leashes, of course," Ginny said. "From what I heard, Fred and George preferred running around with not a stitch on and giving their clothes to the gnomes."

With a huge, malicious grin, Ron nodded. "The leashes are these long bits of string that come in primary colors. You wrap one end around the body, and the other end floats near the parent's hand; the things go on without someone holding onto it, but precaution's needed. Bill told me he and Charlie would magic the leashes to yank Fred and George around a bit; they'd go bonkers for it."

"Must explain why they're such animals," said Hermione, cutting up her roast.

"Animals with loads of galleons," Ron shot back. "For a tenth of their profit I'd let them horse around all they liked."

"Well money hasn't bought them character," she insisted.

Looking up, Ginny wondered if Hermione was still annoyed about the twins jangling their tin of coins in her face whenever they sold a Skiving Snackbox. The redhead puzzled over that; she'd thought the older girl had gotten over it after the mischief makes had showed Umbridge up.

Harry caught Ginny's questioning glance. "She's pulling that because she caught a third year with a packet of Fainting Fancies sticking out of his pocket."

Ginny nodded her understanding, but hastily looked away from Harry. She supposed that Ron had smoothed things over with him, and that it was relatively magnanimous of Harry to forget their row, still felt rather awkward pretending as if nothing happened.

"She's _pulling that_," Hermione cut in, "because those things are contraband and the long term effects of it are still unknown."

"For all their scores, Fred and George are top wizards, Hermione –"

"– _Furthermore_," the Head Girl interrupted, "a third year knows absolutely nothing about scholastic stress! What would he need to pass out of a class for?"

"I've no idea," said Harry, adjusting his glasses. "Third year was a cinch for me."

The group collectively paused.

And then they all burst out laughing. Neville, Dean, and Seamus, who were chatting further down the table, turned their heads briefly and gave them an odd look.

"Ho, ho," Hermione said blandly.

"No, it makes sense," Ginny said chuckling, "because everyone knows your second year was _much_ more difficult."

Everyone opened their mouths as if to start up chortling once more, until they realized that that their second year was Ginny's first…and the humor sort of died in their throats.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Ginny realized that making that sort of joke was a bit like the time Charlie's friend from the dragon reservation told a quip about armed robbery. He'd lost his right one when a Ridgeback was feeling peckish. No one had laughed very much then, either. At least the twins had, until her mother smacked them rather ungraciously – and conspicuously. Ginny remembered thinking that if they'd all just chuckled their way through it, less attention would have been called to the matter.

She cleared her throat a little. "They're thinking of bottling the portable swamp and selling it, you know."

Everyone resumed eating.

"When did they tell you that? Have they been writing you?" asked Ron.

"Sure," Ginny replied, biting into her potato. She took a rather long time in swallowing. "Loads." -- Once, actually, since her arrival at Hogwarts. But admittedly, it was rather long considering of whom they were speaking. The majority of the message had been trying to goad her into conducting a survey to see what the demand was _among, 'The dear pupils of their esteemed alma mater.'_ Ginny was still toying with the idea. They'd have to give her further incentive.

Ron looked stumped. "I'd no idea."

Ginny shrugged. "I didn't know about Percy writing you that obnoxious little letter until a few months ago."

"Trust me," Ron grumbled, still incensed about their elder brother's attempt at garnering support for Fudge in his fifth year, "you wouldn't have wanted to know about it any earlier. The way everyone's temper was that year, I reckon you would've shoved it right up his –" Hermione coughed. "– Nose."

Ginny smirked. "And you trust _me_, Ron," she said slyly. "You won't want to know anything more about what the twins are up to."

The remainder of the meal was spent in tepid silence. When Ginny had finished, she rose with a short word about sending Pig out.

"I'm going up, too," said Colin. "If you want, we can walk to the Owlery together; it's not too late."

Not wanting to risk Colin seeing the name on the rolled parchment, Ginny was tempted to decline his offer, but she couldn't find the heart to say no.

"All right, then," she said, standing fully. Looming over the rest of the diners, Ginny gave the table a once over; she smiled mischievously at Neville who looked up in time to catch it. Then, just as she went to turn away fully, she also snagged Gavin's eye. Two people away from Neville, he turned floridly to the person beside him and struck up a loud conversation.

"I got an O on that last Arithmancy assignment, you know! Wasn't it laughable how easy it was?"

Ginny's temper flared, but she sought to control it.

_Don't say anything_, she said inwardly. _He's just trying to get a rise out of you, the berk_.

She stepped away from the table with a huff. Noticing her sudden haste and assuming that it was because she was extra eager to retire, Colin blew his bangs out of his face and grinned artlessly. "Remember to look both ways, Ginny."

* * *

It was burning in her pocket.

Not figuratively, as in, '_I've been waiting for this for an obscene amount of time-how did he manage to get it to me-I want to read it over and over again and post it up on my wall despite skimming it twice already-it's like I can feel it burning in my pocket. . . ._' but literally, it burned.

When Ginny moved around, the small bit of parchment behaved as a small bit of parchment should have, and lay just inside the fold of her robes; an unremarkable presence. However, she'd discovered that if she went still for any indeterminate amount of time the smooth paper radiated with a heat that was not worrisome or uncomfortable, merely…noticeable. She rationalized that he'd obviously put some sort of charm on it, though she'd no idea why. Perhaps he'd wished to keep her mind grounded, lest she be tardy or completely absent for the meeting he had scheduled for that evening.

Ginny sighed wearily. Draco Malfoy was a prick, albeit a clever one.

Their meetings had been incredibly sparse – in fact, nonexistent – since their last one a couple of weeks before. It had been around the start of term then, and all the students were running around like mad, getting reintroduced to life at Hogwarts; no one really had the time to monitor anyone else. Now, though, people were properly settled – and with that came routine. Everyone fell into the habit of being where they were supposed to be at a particular time, and most people knew where _others_ were expected to be. Free time was hardly a wild card as it was spent playing Quidditch (if you played), doing clubs (if you desired), or studying (if you cared).

And if you weren't doing any of those things, and you weren't in the common room, you were off being secretive – and that got around to everyone.

For a boyfriend-less girl with a limited amount of friends, Ginny had few excuses to offer if she went missing too often. She still regretted having to give up the Hufflepuff-lover ruse with Ron, but it had been unavoidable. Intent on not being unaware as he'd been with Michael Corner, Ron had insisted on questioning her relentlessly about her new paramour's character until she'd admitted that his 'character' consisted mostly of air and imagination. Along with that, he had pried the old news of her detentions into the open (to his knowledge she'd done them alone) and tried to guilt her into staying out of trouble.

"_Fine_," she'd retorted. "I'll be a six year old and play dolls. Just let me find Grawp first; he'd love to join."

He'd shut up after that.

All the same, Ron's mothering had fringe benefits: if he wanted to keep an eye on her, she would have to shadow him. Oh-so-conveniently, that meant shadowing the Trio. To be honest, she'd already been doing that; now she just had permission of a sort. Truthfully, it was a bit of a disappointment, though probably an intentional one. The four Gryffindor all fooled around and studied together on occasion, but Ginny knew that Hermione, Ron, and Harry held their whispered conversations elsewhere.

It was no matter. She and Draco would've done the same if they had found the time.

And finally, _finally_, he had.

Ginny caught Draco watching her all Monday, and not very covertly either. She had been wary when it continued on Tuesday, until they crossed paths in the afternoon.

Walking side by side with Pansy Parkinson, he'd murmured, "_Soon_," when she was within earshot.

"Soon, what?" Ginny had heard Parkinson say.

"We'll soon be rid of a ginger haired pestilence, is all," he'd replied loudly. Pansy shrieked and Ginny bit her lip angrily. Draco Malfoy certainly wasn't experiencing the dip in popularity that his father was.

But she'd gotten the message and all that remained were the details, which arrived Thursday morning just after breakfast. Coming back down the main stairs after retrieving a forgotten textbook, Ginny had stopped to chat quickly with Neville, who was heading outside. Just as they were about to part, she spotted a familiar bright head approaching the two of them. She felt a trickle of annoyance when Neville stiffened; it was bad enough that he played games with her when alone, but the least he could do was to let up on her friends. So instead of paying the blond any attention, she faced Neville fully to say a proper goodbye.

In the next moment, everything escalated out of control. It started with the seams of her schoolbag coming undone; her papers and books fell to the floor with a loud clatter, but surprisingly, no teachers peeked out of their rooms to find out what it was all about.

Whistling lightly, Draco stopped walking just short of them, a seemingly startled look on his face, when Neville shouted his name.

"I saw what you did to Ginny's bag, Malfoy!" Neville clamored, starting in on the blond. "Don't you…you'd better leave her alone, she doesn't want any trouble."

"Trouble?" asked Draco foggily, staring openly at Ginny. "Who said anything about _trouble_? If I wanted that, I would have gone to the Ravenclaw common room and snogged your…thing…"

"_Don't you_ –!" Neville demanded, face beet red.

"Thank Merlin it's not trouble I'm after, then," Draco went on calmly. He bent swiftly and picked up a sheaf of parchment with Ginny's notes on it. "Sloppy people do slippery things, Weasley, but I never figured you for the type to just toss your things around." He reached forward and tucked it into a mute Ginny's pocket, then regally wiped his hands off on his trousers. "But if you'd like, stop by the Room of Requirement right after lunch and we'll see if you won't lay out a few more."

"You slimy –"

"Neville, no!" Ginny burst out, grabbing hold of the back of the Gryffindor's robes as he launched forward, barely missing Draco's nose. "Stop it! He's being stupid! I'm not…not even _listening_!"

Draco watched Neville with unconcealed amusement; the latter's face puffing up with ire, eyes glittering.

"For your sake, Weasley, I hope you are. _Remember_ what I said – or you can always ask Longbottom to help you with that; his family's brilliant at that sort of thing."

"Just…just get out of here!" Neville yelled furiously, the last statement wrenching at what was left of his composure. "I swear I'll just…Arg! Just…"

Draco put his hands up. "Was a bit hard to catch with all the stuttering, but I think I've got the message." He cleared his throat. "See you in Potions, Longbottom?" he asked. A profanity was his answer and Draco shrugged. Ginny watched, with Neville in her arms, as Draco walked down the hall, turned left to the moving staircases, and was gone from sight.

Panting heavily, Neville had thrown himself out of Ginny's hold, pushing her roughly away so that she nearly hit the opposite wall. She saw the same look in his eye that she had seen two years ago in the Spell Damage ward at St. Mungo's. It dared her to say one word, _one solitary word_ against the sacrifice his parent's had made.

Ginny dared not. She'd remained silent, face nearly on fire with shame as she saw Neville swipe violently at the shine in eyes.

"They were…they were good people," he whispered.

Ginny nodded very quickly. "Yes, yes; I know. I –"

"_Not like him_, Ginny," he cut her off. "Not like his sort, and I'm not ashamed of them one bloody bit."

"Neville…" she pleaded impotently. "I don't…"

"I'm sorry for pushing you," he said quietly, eyes lowered and fists clenching so tightly that they were white against his robes.

But before she could give him any real words of condolence – anything at all – he'd turned away without another sound, half-running away from her until he reached the main doors. He was a dark spot against the dusky wood, and more so when the doors opened and his robes were outlined against the light gray sky. Then, when the tall doors shut, he had been utterly invisible; the sound of his labored breaths muted.

Ginny sighed once more and returned to the present. Encoded in Draco's slander had been hints and directions that she was to follow; she had managed to get that much out of it. So directly after lunch, Ginny had slipped off (successfully leaving Colin behind) and gone up to the seventh floor, across the hall from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Facing the unembellished door to the Room of Requirement, Ginny gathered her thoughts.

What was she supposed to ask for?

After at least seven minutes of unproductive brainstorming, approaching voices filtered to her from nearby and she hurriedly walked back and forth three times, thinking of the room that she and Malfoy had shared when they had been there last. When it manifested, Ginny almost didn't notice; there was little change to the outer appearance of the door, and if she were anyone else, she might not have noticed anything different. Diffidently, she stepped inside.

A low fire rumbled in the grate, the lights were dim, and the furnishings spare but comfortable. Had the room not harbored memories that made her insides churn, Ginny would not have minded returning to it more often. Clasping her hands together in a business-like manner, Ginny proceeded to look around. There was nothing out of place to indicate anything remarkable, at the very least a secret message. There was a half-empty cup of butterbeer on the mantle, a book on mind control on the small table (different from the one she'd pilfered from the Restricted Section), a . . .

Wait.

Ginny did a double take at the mantle. Resting innocently beside the half-empty glass was now a small bit of parchment. She picked it up warily and scanned it carefully; a slow grin crossed her face as she did so. This was it; what she had required. A secret message.

_If you're reading this_, it began without preamble, _(and you'd better be), you're only half as daft as expected._

_Tonight, in the other room, eleven sharp. Do not be late._

_You're getting warm just imagining it, aren't you?_

_M_

The grin had long faded from her lips as she reviewed it once more, and it reversed into a frown as she recalled what he had said to get the message across. Warm indeed, she snorted silently. He had definitely charmed it.

Still, she would meet him all the same, though he'd been horrible to Neville (and only given her less than half a day to construct a credible alibi); there was no other option. Ginny tucked the note into her pocket where smoldered harmlessly.

It was easier this time to thwart her friends than it had ever been, and essentially all she had done was tell the truth. Ginny told Colin that she was going to the library and, readily enough, he decided to come with her. That was no problem at all since he already had plans to scarper off at quarter past eight and nab some photos. All of those poor unsuspecting victims…

Ginny opted to stay until the very last moment – nine o'clock – although that was the time curfew began. She hoped that if she took the path back to the common room used most frequently by Gryffindors, she'd catch a prefect from her own house. He or she would most likely let her off (House loyalty counted for more than some thought) and in return she would have knowledge of where at least one of the Hogwarts prefects was operating. Those parts of the castle would be avoided readily.

That had gone accordingly. Though the prefect was not a Gryffindor, a feeble shrug indicating her load of books and a coy smile allowed her to go on her merry way.

* * *

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were applying themselves assiduously in the common room when she entered: Harry's glasses were askew and the pages of Advanced Transfiguration - Level 2 fluttered softly around his slumbering breaths; Ron was practically sucking his text through his nose, his snores were so energetic. Ginny snickered, catching Hermione's attention. The older girl met her eyes and smiled compactly, no doubt displeased with the boys' weak show of enthusiasm.

"It's rather late, isn't it, Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"Only just after nine or so," Ginny told her. "I lost track of time in the library, and…and…" she yawned, not affectedly "I'm knackered. I'll probably go straight up to bed."

"You should; from the look of things you've been at it for awhile…" A dark look was cast at the boys sharing the sofa.

Ginny grinned, and took care to pass in front of Ron. She kicked his feet off of the table they were propped up on, and he popped straight up.

"Scarves from pudding! I swear!" he shouted, wide-eyed and tousled all over. Harry's glasses fell off.

Ginny snorted and Ron turned to look at her, squinting as if to recall when, exactly, she had turned up.

"Actually," Hermione said sharply, a dangerously keen edge to her voice. "Melissande Najal Wright transfigured scarves from the desert sand!"

"Desert …dessert…" sighed Ron. "Either way you want something to drink."

"Then trust that I'll never go anywhere with you again," she snapped. "Lest you transfigure gillywater for me when I'm drowning."

"Nice one," said Ginny.

"Did you need something?" queried Ron grumpily.

"Pudding, perhaps?"

"Let her alone, Ron!" Hermione ordered, even though Ginny was doing most of the baiting. "And wake Harry up."

The redhead nudged his friend roughly in the shoulder.

"Whatimezit?" Harry asked jerkily, going for his wand. Realizing that his wand was not what he needed, but his glasses, Harry patted the sofa down, and then discovered them on the floor. "When'd we finish studying?"

"We _haven't_. We will have if you remember who Melissande N. Wright was."

"She conjured slippers in the desert, right?" he asked a bit foggily, placing the spectacles on his face.

"That and treacle tart, apparently," Ginny put in.

"Go to bed, Ginny," Ron commanded.

"But you two are so amusing," she said ruefully. "My dreams aren't _nearly_ as entertaining."

"I'll wager that you pair haven't even gone on to chapter two yet," Hermione accused.

"You don't like betting," said Harry.

"Oh, I think I've got this one in the bag."

"Really, there's no need to be upset," Ron informed her. "We don't have to be further than page twenty-seven for tomorrow and we're already beyond that."

"_Forty_-seven," Hermione corrected. "And even if you were on top of your assignment – which I know you aren't – you oughtn't sit back and try and breathe in the text through your nostrils. I assure you it won't work, and laziness –"

"This is the first time we've slipped all term," Ron argued. "Sorry that we haven't finished all four hundred and ninety-eight pages by yesterday, but having a life sort of interfered."

"Then have a life on your own Saturday night," Hermione said archly. Ron's ears went pink.

"You –"

"We'll have got it done by McGonagall's class," Harry interrupted, body limp and molded into the couch.

Exasperated, Hermione set down her studying paraphernalia and stood up. "Fine. I'm late for patrol. Don't stay down here too late." She walked over to the portrait hole, snapping the clasp of her robes together to keep the chill out. "If they start sleeping when I'm gone, kick them again, Ginny," she said over her shoulder. She walked out.

The younger girl froze as Harry and Ron stared at her.

"Er, night!" she said hastily, scampering quickly up the girls' staircase. Their voices called after her, mixing with her laughter, and faded away when she shut the door to her room behind her. The other girls were already sleeping, some with gentle snores – some with loud, rumbling ones – all of them unaware of Ginny's late arrival. Her smile widened. It was just how she liked it.

Ginny waited until quarter past ten to emerge again. Changed into darker, more practical clothing for roaming about the castle at night, she arranged her pillows into the rough form of a body in her four-poster. For insurance she spelled the hangings shut with a voice charm that would respond to her only.

Ginny crouched at the head of the stairs to the common room and peeked down to see if Harry and Ron were still down there, but they weren't. Only their parchment remained strewn across the sofa and floor – they must have gone to bed – and so she tread carefully down the flight. Reaching the exit, she looked around once more, and then pushed the Fat Lady open as gently as possible. The delicately rounded woman snorted unevenly in her sleep, but remained vegetative. With a small grin, eyes gleaming anxiously in the night, Ginny stole cautiously through the dimly lit passageways, senses alert for traces of a patrolling Hermione or anyone else.

When the heavily frequented corridors gave way to lesser known ones Ginny quickened her pace. Long strips of darkness alternated eerily with short, torch lit settings, and the redhead was tempted to run through it all, desirous not to become entranced in the strange, haunted aura of Hogwarts at night. At times the shadows seemed to be opaque ghosts shifting in and out of focus and she swore at one point that one had gone through her. The portraits she passed which peered out at her between their seemingly closed lids did not cheer the situation any. They tittered and whispered without giving the impression of moving their oil painted lips at all; they pointed without ruffling a silk covered sleeve.

Hogwarts was…alive; and Ginny had never realized it until that moment. It teemed with the sinister, numinous, and mythical all at once, and it weighed heavily on her. The alien feeling of being watched by a softly cackling poltergeist from above caught her breath and made her spring around, wand at attention, more than once. She imagined Peeves laying bets with the Bloody Baron: if the former succeeded in dropping the marble bust of Demeter on her head before she reached the Ravenclaw staff room, the latter would trap a poor first year in Myrtle's loo for at least five hours. A bargain, if he really thought about it…

And finally, _finally_, she was there.

Ginny went purposefully down the last endless corridor, yanked the door open, and shut it solidly behind her. The door thudded and then snapped, but Ginny didn't waste time wondering what that meant. She chucked the weightless bag on her shoulder (a present from Bill) to the floor and sank gratefully into one of the two comfy couches. The clock read five to eleven: she was getting better at navigating her way into the West Wing of the castle. Even better, she realized with a grin, she'd arrived earlier than The Idiot.

At 11:23, as Ginny was in the process of marking interesting passages off and committing some to memory, the lock in the door began to rattle impatiently from the outside. She snatched her wand up apprehensively. The sound stopped shortly and all was quiet again, until the catch ticked succinctly. The door swung open noiselessly and a surly Draco crossed the threshold.

"Next time, don't shut the door all the way. The professors like to pretend that they're protecting ancient Mayan temples or something." Tie still fastened in place, shirt still crisp and buttoned from the morning, and Head Boy badge clipped on in full view, Draco looked as if he had not come to rest since classes were let out that afternoon.

"Eleven _sharp_," Ginny said calmly, eyeing him dispassionately. It was his own fault if he was tired; who told him to schedule the meeting so late?

"That was intended for you, not me," he replied just as moderately. "I'm surprised that you managed to decipher the message at all." He lowered himself into the couch facing her, and undid the silver fastening at his neck so that his robes fell open. "Who knew that Weasleys were capable of understanding subtlety?"

Ginny turned her eyes back onto the book in her lap. "Yes, that fine art," she murmured. "When you undid the seams of my bag as if they were recalled dress robes and practically highlighted phrases like, 'Room of Requirement after lunch', you showed sporting examples of subterfuge. If it turns out that Neville followed me, I'll not be surprised."

"Pudgy little Gryffindor wanted to do me in, did he?" Draco asked, amused. "Well he'd be sorry for even wishing it if he knew he was aiding the greater good."

Ginny made a face. "Yeah. Neville would _love_ knowing that he'd given your father a helping hand."

"My father would chop his own off first," the blond promised in a macabre tone. "But seriously, though, I thought the gormless sap took it rather well, so let's not split hairs. It's all too obvious that you're planning on being verbally chivalrous on his behalf, and I'm telling you with implicit honesty that it isn't necessary; he released all that angriness in the form of three melted cauldrons."

After all of that, Ginny could do nothing but smile. "You'll get your comeuppance one day, Malfoy, and it'll be plenty vicious. Just wait."

He sneered; all traces of humor gone with Ginny's prophetic threat. "That's no way to greet me after such a long time."

"Then shut up," Ginny ordered. "Before all the nastiness that's sustaining you leaks out and leaves me here with your pasty shell."

"You're one to talk about nastiness, Weasley; you've been trying to give your '_bestest' friend_ the slip all week." He smirked. "When you left dinner tonight and noticed he wasn't following, you exhaled so heavily I thought you'd deflate." Ginny reddened and then cursed herself for it when he blinked knowingly. "That's taken care of then. Did you speak to Loony Lovegood?"

Ginny settled for nodding. "Yes, Pig."

He sniffed at the name, and she tilted an eyebrow.

"Oh, not you, Malfoy, I meant my owl. He was surprisingly expeditious; hasn't gotten a good fly in a while I suppose… Anyway, Luna told me it would be fine; she sent her own owl off to tell her father about it, and I sent Pig, as well." She marked off a line in her book, imagining how Hermione would react to a defamed piece of prose. "I'm expecting his reply any day now."

Draco waved a hand at her, retrieving something from his bag with the other. "Good to see you're doing what you've been told."

Ginny's quill nearly snapped in her fingers, and she reined in her temper. It was the last sugarquill in her pack, she told herself, and she'd not have the opportunity to go to Hogsmeade until Halloween.

"Well what have _you_ been doing with your time?" she probed accusingly. "I'm sure I've seen Hermione attending to her Head Girl duties more than I've see _you_ at yours."

She watched, pleased, as Draco bristled. "If you must know, I'm marked down for Thursday nights and three other days of the week – which is obviously why we can be here tonight."

"You mean to say you're meeting with me when you could be taking points off of sleep-deprived Hufflepuffs?"

"Don't fret," he said, "I caught one on my way here. He got twenty points off for hideous sleepwear straight away."

Ginny looked at him in disbelief, though she knew there was no point in saying that he had been unfair – that had probably been half the thrill for him. "It's marked down where you're supposed to be patrolling, isn't it? Some prefect is bound to notice you're not around."

She saw him take in a deep breath and was glad. She hoped she was making him miserable. "Leave, then," he said, mercury eyes intent on her own. "And don't come back. The _prefects_ might trace you back to me."

"I'm only trying to clear up your tracks."

"Well I haven't left any, so feel free to 'shut your gob', as your halfwit brother would say. If you were so enamored with the comings and goings of prefects, then you should have made an effort to pass your classes. Maybe then you'd have the privilege of being one."

Nearly igniting him with the molten glare she sent his way, Ginny took up her wand and turned it around a few times in her hands. After a moment, she pointed it at him and flicked it sharply. The fireplace behind his chair lit up with a guttural pant and Ginny set her wand down in her lap, noting with pleasure the tense line around his mouth.

"I hope I didn't frighten you," she said simply. "I thought was cold in here."

He didn't blink. "I'm sure."

"If you're so concerned, I made sure the other prefects were scattered around the castle so that theoretically, each one should only come across my patrol area once, if that." He paused. "The _Head Girl _is also on duty tonight, so if something comes up I'm sure Beaver can just chomp her way out of the situation."

Ginny neglected to mention that Hermione's teeth were perfectly _fine_, as she was sure that would only cause him to laugh outright.

"Luckily or not so luckily," he continued, oblivious to Ginny's annoyance, "Thursday is the only night out of the week we share rounds. I had requested it first because it's the latest night patrol and it would have been convenient to have," he admitted gesturing shortly to the papers around them. "But then _Granger_ showed up shrieking that she wanted it as well."

"She probably had a good reason," Ginny suggested. "Not everything is a conspiracy to oust your heart of what it so desperately desires."

Draco sneered at her. "'In_ the event that one Head should be unattainable, the other will be able available_'," he crooned, in a horrid imitation of the bushy-haired girl's admittedly swotty tones. "She insinuated to McGonagall that I wouldn't be responsible enough to be on call if I alone were given Thursday patrol, so she weaseled her way in. A nasty habit she picked up along the way, I'm sure."

"Get new material, Malfoy," said Ginny, not rising to the bait. "You aren't exactly 'on call' now, are you?"

He said nothing back; there was no arguing with blatant truth.

Ginny rubbed at her eyes to scrub out the weariness, but kept them closed afterward. There was a stockpile of thoughts inside of her head multiplying by the second, and she dreaded having to sift through it all. Dumbledore was lucky: there was a nice little pensieve resting inside one of the cupboards in his cluttered office, and whenever he wished, he could slip even the slightest musing in it for safe keeping.

Ginny yawned. That's how he was able to twinkle his starry-blue eyes in even the most trying of circumstances. If Dumbledore wondered why her brother, Harry, and Hermione were skulking about, he could slosh a few speculative reflections about in his stone basin and jump into them later. She had a few that she could lend him… The irony of Hermione scheduling NEWT revision for Ron and Harry even though she'd not even be there to enforce it like usual…the hilarity of Hermione swooping down on Draco and taking his coveted Thursday patrol…the frustration she felt with Draco for not even apologizing about what he'd said to Neville…

She shifted on the supple, warm couch.

Hadn't Neville gotten a new toad, or at least a companion for Trevor? Or maybe it was a new plant…? No, it was a toad, and its name was Rodge, strangely enough. And it was strange because it was a female toad…but Luna had liked the name, and Ginny sort of did as well. Colin _would_ have, except he was mute for some reason… and Draco was laughing at him and saying, "See, Weasley? Isn't it better that he's finally shut up? Eh, Weasley? Weasley? _Weasley?_"

Ginny jerked upright with a gasp, but shot back painfully after her head collided with Draco's – who swore fantastically.

"Do you head butt everyone who interrupts your snoring?" he snapped.

"I'm so –" Ginny cut her apology short, eyes a bit teary but gradually focusing. "I don't _snore_, Malfoy. And you…you shouldn't have startled me like that." He was bending over her still sitting form, holding his forehead. "What time is it?"

"Five past," he said shortly. "You've been having a lie-down and left me to do all the work."

"_Five past_! Past _twelve_?" Ginny exclaimed, ignoring his complaints. "It can't be!" She looked around his slim form to the vastly diminished embers in the grate. "We've got to go!"

"_Obviously_." The blond rolled his eyes. "Pack up your things; I've done mine already, but yours are all over the floor. Do you normally thrash around that much? In bed I mean."

Ginny's face suffused with heat as his offbeat question hit her, and she realized that they had not been this close to each other since their detentions. "Don't worry about it," she snapped. "You'd be the last to find out."

He snorted. "Last and first, then, seeing as I'm halfway there as it is." She picked up her wand threateningly and he smirked. "But as I was saying, you need to haul yourself back to your Gryffindor hole; I've got to meet up with Granger in ten minutes or so. Even your mind can comprehend that that isn't much time."

Not quite over her jumpiness, but unwilling to be accommodating, Ginny stretched languorously and sat up. "I can make it back on my own," she informed him. "It's terribly sweet of you to look after me, I'm sure, but I'll have to say no thanks."

Draco's lips tightened. "Fine." He stopped for effect. "Just don't cross paths with Filch and be forced to explain why you're anywhere near the West Wing. And don't tell him you've been _making up_ with Michael Corner – even if he buys that I don't think he'll care."

Ginny's eyes lit up. "Don't tell me what I can or cannot say! I'll say I was with Snape if I bloody well please." She summoned her scattered papers off the carpet and shoved them roughly into her bag. "I've absolutely no problem with _espionage_, Malfoy. And I don't need _your_ advice, of all people, on how to get out of a scrape." She stood boldly in front of him, the backs of her knees brushing the couch she'd been sitting in, so that there was minimal space to move about.

"Is that so?" he asked slickly. Ginny rolled her eyes, but did not move. "Then you ought to at least cover your face before you leave, lest someone see you scuttling off. Thicker people than you – marvelous that there _are_ any – have managed to be hauled before their Heads of House because they were absentminded enough to forget a disguise."

Ginny took pause, unsure of whether she would rather defy him just to hack him off further, or take his backhanded advice. She settled for hitching her bag onto her shoulder and giving an impatient sigh. Lifting her arms up without warning, so that her elbows nearly clipped him on the face, Ginny loosened the hood of her robes and yanked it messily over her head.

"I'd have done that without your advice," she lied staunchly. "I'm not stupid."

His eyes narrowed, he smiled mockingly. "Of course not; you're just misunderstood – rather like Crabbe and Goyle."

Ginny jabbed her pointer finger in his face. "_You_ –" She blinked. "Malfoy…you're…shining…"

It was strange sight to Ginny's eyes, and she fully expected to see the same sentiment mirrored in the blond's face; so she was baffled when he looked down sharply, not at all perplexed. A soft, verdant light spilled form the outline of the serpent on his Head Boy Badge, and it pulsed every half-second, beckoning him to…to touch it?

"What is it do–?"

"Shut up!" Draco whispered harshly. "And move back. _Now_."

"Where? You're standing right in front of me! Or shall I melt into the sofa, perhaps? Or maybe–"

Draco grabbed Ginny's arm to forestall any more smart remarks, when her arm brushed against his chest, sliding past the badge. The pin seemed to explode into a light that expanded and crept toward the center until not only the circumference was aglow, but the entire thing. After a second the intensity lessened, leaving only a subtle, steady glimmer.

Peering forward inquisitively, Ginny though she was seeing a long hole of nothing, until indistinct shapes began forming. A staircase, was it? And a long, winding banister? And was someone whimpering?

"Malfoy! Draco Malfoy!"

Ginny noticed the voice was a different tone than that of the whimpering cry. She leaned in closer to connect faces to the voices somehow, but just as someone came into focus, Draco snatched the badge off of his robes and turned a gimlet eye onto it. He moved it so that Ginny was unable to view any of the front of it, and she frowned, irritated.

"I'm here. Who is – Wotright?"

Both occupants of the room stood frozen, arrested with surprise. What on earth was Gavin communicating with Draco Malfoy after twelve in the morning?

"Yes, yes it's me!" the younger boy's voice said. "Something dreadful has happened!"

"Feel free to untie your tongue, then, and let me in on the secret," Draco said laconically.

"It's terrible! Mavis Butters fell down the stairs. I was on my way back from patrolling the first floor corridors when I heard a scream; I ran in the direction of it and found her at the bottom."

Ginny went even more still if it were possible. Mavis had been in bed when she left – she was sure of it.

"You couldn't levitate her to Pomfrey?" Draco's voice broke through the tension filled room, a steely tone suffusing his words. "I'm sure Butterfingers doesn't appreciate lying on the floor, regardless of how used to tumbling down she's become."

There was no sound from the other end, and Ginny wondered if there had been a disconnection, when Gavin returned, sounding rather odd.

"I would have…only Mavis didn't want to be moved. I actually think her leg might be broken. She wanted to wait for you or Hermione Granger to watch her while I fetched Madam Pomfrey…only neither of you was available…" There was another prolonged stillness. "Where _are_ you, Malfoy?" Gavin asked suddenly, and Ginny's stomach plummeted.

"Nowhere."

"Well that's all too evident," came his quick rebuttal. "I did think that I saw something when I initially put the call through. Might you know what I'm speaking of?"

"Your wits," Draco said in clipped tones. "They were crawling away; it happens rather often to you, so I thought I'd be munificent and not mention it." Though his voice was cool and seemingly controlled, Ginny saw that the blond was losing composure. She jerked her head to catch his attention, signaling for him not to go spare at Gavin's commonplace nosiness; they couldn't afford it.

Frustrated, Draco clenched the fist that was not holding the badge. "Put a Cushioning Charm underneath the poor dear and wait for my arrival. I'll be there shortly."

"Already done…" Gavin sang, voice fading away.

Draco fished his wand from his pocket and tapped it to the face of the badge, making sure that it stayed focused only on him. The eerie jade gleam returned momentarily, and then died away until the room was dim once more, save the glow of the still dying embers of the fire.

Ginny looked away from the object in Draco's pale hand and up at his face. He seemed to not want to move at all, though the immediate danger was gone, and she nearly prompted him to say something, when he decided to speak on his own.

"Get out of here," he commanded. "Once you go down the long hallway, take the shortest moving staircase on the right and go down one floor. Once you're off it, take only left turns until you reach a statue of Morgan le Fey – do you know the one I'm speaking of?"

"I think so, though I've only seen it twice at most," Ginny affirmed. "But –"

"Tap it once and say, 'Le Morte d'Arthur'. When it smiles, walk through it – you'll be able to, so don't concern yourself about that. Follow the passage through the statue straight down until you reach the third door on the right – there are only four, so if you overrun it just go back one. Open it with the same password and tap combination as before. You'll end up coming out of the knight in armor down the hall from the Potions dungeons. Find your own way to Gryffindor Tower from there."

Without looking at her any longer or saying anything more, he strode over to the wall furthest from the door and lifted his wand to it. Ginny suddenly remembered that if rapped in the correct pattern, the bricks tumbled across each other until a hole leading to the Hufflepuff staff room opened up.

"Wait!" she called, jogging over. "I'm going with you."

He sneered. "You can't be serious."

"I am! I really think –"

"How awfully nice for you," Draco shot out acidly. "But I'll congratulate you another time. Our covers are about to be blown apart and you pick now to throw yourself at me? Do what I told you and you'll be fine." He turned away from her and tapped the wall quickly – too quickly for her to keep track of – and when the bricks collapsed into a passageway (she desperately hoped there was no one within earshot of the commotion, thought the room was probably charmed against that) he stepped through unhesitatingly.

A slight panic ran through her, Ginny observed the similarly patterned room that the blond melted into; it was much darker than the one she stood in, as there was no fire, but the exit was in the same place. Draco reached the door, pulled it open sharply, and closed it fully behind him – undoubtedly locking it.

Nearly screaming with frustration, Ginny frantically gave her surroundings a once over. When she turned back to the hole, she realized, with further alarm, that it was half the size it had been a minute before. Dashing a few steps away, she snatched up Draco's bag – he'd left it behind – and stuffed it into the reforming wall, not quite knowing what to expect. As the hole decreased in size and met resistance, a few dull, popping sounds emitted from the expensive leather rucksack and Ginny knew that Draco would need to replace a few pots of ink and at least two quills. But more importantly, the wall ceased to shrink and she now had a chance to follow after him, to hell with his absurd plan for her. Why would she ever go traipsing about when something like this was happening? She might be needed.

Ginny raised her wand to expand the area around the crumpled schoolbag, and then hesitated. What she was considering was undoubtedly foolish, and if she'd learned anything from Ron's encounter with the brain at the Department of Mysteries, was that most thoughts were dangerous enough without adding imprudence to the mix…

Ginny gritted her teeth. Ron's heart was still beating and he was virtually unscarred, so to Circe with caution. She fumbled around mentally for a simple but effective spell, and when it came to mind she straightened her aim on the wall.

"_Engorgio Vacua_," she spoke firm but softly. Almost immediately Draco's bag fell to the floor as the hole widened. Ginny cringed at the noise; the bricks were making far more of a ruckus than they had before, as if they were aware that someone was trying to cheat the precautionary spells. While there was still time, she summoned her own bag, shrank it along with Draco's and tucked them into her pocket; hopefully the fire would snuff itself out. With one last glance about her, Ginny clambered through into a nearly identical, but colder, darker room.

And not a moment too soon.

Her spell gave out and the bricks fell upon each other vindictively and chaotically, leaving her cut off completely from where she had just been. When it was finished, there was only a flat, smooth plane as it should have been. Ginny nearly ran to the door. Once through, she shut it completely as Draco had, and raced down the hall as swiftly and silently as she could, so as not to alert anyone – or any_thing_.

Merlin, but Draco moved fast… She sprinted toward the stairs and peered heedlessly over the side of the banister, nearly tipping over it. A whoosh of air left her lungs when she spotted a shadowy, but familiar figure about four flights down; and then it was gone. She waited impatiently and almost feverishly for the landing to reorient itself back to her, and after nearly three minutes, when it did, Ginny hopped on single-mindedly, chasing Draco's elusive silhouette down to where Gavin awaited him.

* * *

_That's the end of this one. And **no**, the wait for the next chapter will not be this long, though it might not be as short as most of you would like. No review responses for the last chapter as I just wanted to get this out there.__Huge thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! Please continue!_

Femme


End file.
